Rave (2000/Lightyear)
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: C- Film: C+
Ever since the government has waged war on the drug
ecstasy, the idea of a Rave as always been portrayed as indifferent at
best or bad outright, but Ron Krauss’ 2000 film of the same name makes a
sincere attempt to use one as a touchstone of racial and social economic
tension in Los Angeles. It picks six
teenage characters to follow as they all go out to have a good time, but
nothing but that happens.
Even Donte Basco from Spielberg’s Hook is among the
somewhat recognizable cast, if you had been watching TV or feature films of the
time. The film has a very mixed
approach that really backfires in the long run. Recently, Paul Haggis’ Crash (reviewed elsewhere on this
site) did pretty much the same scenario minus the teen scene for the most part
and was a hit, but its watered-down variation of Robert Altman’s multi-layered
storylines at least still held the film together. Though sincerely made, this is more like watching Cameron Crowe’s
Singles in that it thinks it is being hip but its approach ultimately
does too much of it in.
Without explanation, conclusion or closure, the majority
of the film is filmed (and this is before digital HD was being used much) with
some sudden moments of analog video and a series of reality-TV-like moments
where various characters describe what they are thinking, feeling or doing at a
moment as if in flashback. This device
as used here is a mistake, abandoned by the end and both trivializes and waters
down the impact of the script. As a
result, anything serious or important that happens gets dehumanized too much by
the “safety” of flashback and any risks about the characters or their
situations are rendered secondary, making this a disappointment it did not need
to be.
The letterboxed 1.78 X 1 image is soft and made worse by
inexplicable and unnecessary instances of exaggerated analog video
footage. Whatever the point of this was
by cinematographer Mario Zavala and director Krauss, it becomes a self-fulfilling
prophecy of problems and complications that do not need to be in the film,
getting in the way of fulfilling the narrative’s potential. The footage shot on film is pretty good,
despite the transfer. The film may have
been loaded with songs and a Dolby Digital Theatrical release, but the Dolby
2.0 mix here is weak in richness and surround use is very limited. As well, the volume for which it was
transferred is weaker than usual. Three
trailers for other Lightyear titles are the only extra.
- Nicholas Sheffo
