A film directed by the French filmmaker Michel Gondry that
tells the story of two guys trying to save there video rental store by ‘sweding’
the movies when all the tapes accidentally get erased.
Unlike the complaint I had with The Hobbit I love the title
of this film. It’s a great call back to
the old reminders to rewind video cassettes before returning them to the rental
store, and I think it’s also a call back to the older style of effects that
Gondry uses in his films. Some of the
effects we even get to see in this film, like camera techniques to show different
movements within the film frame a la 2001
a Space Odyssey.
The plot is pretty standard with our two protagonists, Mike
and Jerry, as the underdogs trying to keep the self-owed video store from going
under, and getting that chance when all the tapes get erased and they have to
make up their own versions of the films so the customers can rent things. Watching the guys making the sweded films is
great. I love the montage of them making
them while the titles scroll across the screen. I love the sense of community that builds up
as more and more people get involved in making the films. That everyone is coming together to make and
enjoy these works. That sense of
community is also why I love going to films in the theatre, because I love to
hear an audience’s reaction to a film as it plays and discuss films afterwards. As the film continues I think there is also
some nice commentary here that as time moves forward, with new technology and
large video store chains, that filmmaking is less about doing things for that
creative spark and more about doing it in a mass marketing money making corporation;
of making movies off of brand names and then making sequels off of them, especially
with the whole destroying the tapes section.
Honestly I don’t know how much of the litigation against
what Mike Jerry and Mr. Fletcher are doing holds water. Looking at my old video cassettes the warning
on the tapes it says “any public performance, copying, or other use is strictly
prohibited.” The whole other uses part
is the sticking point since obviously Mike and Jerry aren’t copying the original
films and distributing them, they aren’t showing the films in a public setting,
and they aren’t passing their films off as the original films. They’ve put up sweded signs and pictures that
let the consumer know that the product in the store is not the original film,
but their version of it so I don’t know if they’re even infringing on the brand
rights the companies have. Also the companies
have the rights to destroy the video tapes, because apparently the company owns
the actual physical cassette as opposed to just the contents, but they have put
the sweded movies on DVD too so I don’t know why people can’t just rent the
DVDs instead. Those do contain all original
material, and they’re not made by erasing the original movie content so I don’t
think the companies have any right to complain about copyright infringement for
that. However, mad props to the creative
team for getting Sigourney Weaver to play one of the lawyers. Again another nod to independent filmmakers,
who often try to get well-known actors in their movies to give their work
greater exposure by the value of star power; this kind of thing is discussed in
Robert Rodriguez’s book Rebel Without a
Crew.
So the tapes are destroyed and they make their own movie
about the story of the life of Fats Waller.
That I must thank this movie for introducing me to this artist for the first
time, and he does a nice rendition of ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’ that was used
in this film. The rest of the jazz music
is also fitting for the area they’ve set the film in. So with the documentary, made up out of whole
cloth, the community comes together to celebrate their achievement and try one last
shot to save the store, and do they succeed?
Maybe.
Now I really like the ending because it’s ambiguous. We don’t know if the store was saved after
all that hard work. The guy who wanted
to tear down the store comes up to Mr. Fletcher and shakes his hand enthusiastically
when the movie is done and people are gathered around the street clapping, but
we don’t know if it’s because the Fats Waller film inspired the community,
which was the reason the man wanted to tear down the video store and improve
the neighbourhood, or if he’s happy people are finally getting out of the
building so they can demolish it. Maybe
everyone’s hard worked paid off or maybe it was just a really good night for
the community as a whole, we are allowed to judge that for ourselves. I also love that they have a band playing
with the film, probably a nod to the silent film era where live music was used
before the advent of sound and thus soundtracks.
Even with all this good stuff the film certainly isn’t
perfect. The pace of the film is a bit slow and things like the acting of Jack
Black are areas where there is room for a debate on quality. Personally I find the whole intro part where
he is the tin-foil hat conspiracy nut annoying, and it’s only really there to
get him magnetized from the power station so he’ll wipe the tapes clean in the video
store, and I’m glad that that diminished over the course of the film. Although I do really love the camouflage gear
they used to get over the fence. Another
problem I think is the advertising for this movie. Things like the DVD case and the trailers
imply that this is more of a comedy than I think it really is and that probably
puts off some of the audience too.
So even there are some issues and the advertising is unfortunately
a bit misleading I really like this movie.
I think it’s a quirky little film that really seems to celebrate the
community created by the medium of filmmaking.
Of the community that is created when an audience watches a film, and
the great collaborative effort that comes with making movies. I think the music is fitting, the acting is pretty
good, the premise is interesting, and I think everyone should see the movie at
least once and judge it for themselves.
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