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The Project
Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek
(from the 2008 Slamdance Film Festival)
Director/Writer: Ryan Piotrowicz
Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Juelz Santana, Matt Servitto, Jamie Proctor, Dante Clark, Bilal Bishop, Sebastian Sozzi
"When people have a stake in their society, they want to protect that society. When they don't, they unconsciously want to destroy it." -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1964
Shot in documentary format, about documentary filmmakers filming a feature project about cops and kids in Brooklyn, New York, the film is in fact a narrative feature. Superb editing representative of the music video generation flies us through worlds that live in the shadows of bridges and project housing. And by keeping the "filmmakers'" cameras rolling in the course of their project, Piotrowicz has cleverly freed his crew from the natural concerns inherent in a shoot. Despite having an excuse to deliver a film of lesser quality, this young filmmaker has fielded a first-class effort.
Audiences are more than familiar with reality TV and the slices of reality they serve up - and the artificiality of the premise of The Project admirably feels more real than "The Real World" and other MTV programs that claim to present actual lives being lensed. For that, Piotrowicz should also be commended for his casting, as it's the natural talent with which the film is bestowed that gifts the film its genuine nature and effect. The Project smartly provides each of the essential characters with a complete backstory, which add great depth to the story, and the actors display a fresh competence that's fun to watch and puts The Project into the context of the world at large. While it may be slow going at times, and might have benefited from reversion to traditional TV documentary length, the length that allows the story to develop also allows the film a sense of maturity.
This Slamdance feature film is indicative of the type of inventiveness we should be demanding from filmmakers with access to digital cameras and the mobility and effects this technology facilitates. The Project utilizes digital camera features not to fake film but to embrace the edgier elements and ease of camera movement enabled by this modern medium. That there is now a wider acceptance of the format was recently proved by the box-office blockbuster Cloverfield, which surprised many when its marketing led to the greatest opening ever for a January release. The hand-held first-person narratives are not just for experimentation in festivals anymore, and filmmakers at festivals are now expected to go further than their studio-bound peers.
As the film unfolds, the helmer ups the tension, involving older kids and a complicated web of wrong paths crossed. Prejudice and white man's guilt play out in equal parts behind the camera, while street behavior, social strutting and the perceived and actual exploitation of stereotypical socio-economics puzzle themselves into a clearly murky picture on the other.
As a first-time feature director, Piotrowicz has crafted a competent and interesting film and is a talent to whom attention is well worth paying. That The Project is also provocative and topical is a testament to his craft, as the weird mix of narrative and documentary styles could easily have fallen apart in less capable hands. Kudos, Slamdance - this is precisely the type of first effort this festival has built a reputation in unearthing.
Photos courtesy of Renart Films
Winner of the Audience Award at the 2008 Slamdance Film Festival, The Project will be screening at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival on June 11, 2008. |
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