Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek
(from the 2008 SXSW Film Festival)
Director/Writer: Gabriel Fleming
Starring: Ian Scott McGregor, Lucas Alifano, Lindsay Benner and Chris Yule
The end-of-high-school trip that dare not speak its name bore an act of love/lust that suffers a similar fate a few years on. Jasper (straight), Mark (gay) and Lily (straight) escaped to the gorgeous northern California shoreline where nature in all its simple complexities enables the three to act without reservation - and the homosexual act that transpired in their past sits less than quietly in Mark's memory on the figurative eve of his pending nuptials.
Some years on, the friends re-unite for Halloween, costumed in San Francisco's Castro and chasing an Ecstasy-laced experience. The trio's troubles and travails lead to romantic reminiscences and actions that prompt Mark to begin an email confession to his fiancée...
Shot with a confidence and considerable beauty, and a mood that meanders between deep to dark, Fleming's lost, trapped souls engage reminiscences of Scorsese holding Griffin Dunne hostage in New York's Soho in After Hours.
It's been six years since Fleming's debut feature graced SXSW's Austin screens, and it seems that he benefited from a job on the sound team of Kelly Reichardt's award-winning festival-favorite Old Joy. The lack of speed with which Fleming presents nature's presence pays testament to that part of his resume, as do the fine performances evinced by the helmer from his young cast.
As Lily, Lindsay Benner's lost soul looking to belong is made all the more haunting by her mask, and Ian Scott McGregor's repressed Jasper delivers an inherently interesting truth, but it is Lucas Alifano as Mark whose performance punctuates the film with the most honesty and pain.
Acting, photography and directorial pacing combine for a first-class production, but it's the uneasiness with which the film sits in the stomach after the final frame that makes The Lost Coast a must-visit.
For updated screening times, check the official site - http://www.thelostcoastmovie.com/ - or the SXSW website: http://www.sxsw.com/. The Festival runs from March 7-18, 2008 in Austin, Texas. |
