Southland Tales (2006)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Richard Kelly

Writer (WGA):

Richard Kelly (written by)

Release Date:

7 December 2007 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Have A Nice Apocalypse

Plot:

Southland Tales is an ensemble piece set in the futuristic landscape of Los Angeles on July 4, 2008...

Plot Keywords:

Amnesia | Politics | Nuclear Attack | Beach | Dystopia

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Carlos Amezcua	...	Himself
Curtis Armstrong	...	Dr. Soberin Exx
Robert Benz	...	Tab Taverner
Todd Berger	...	Bing Zinneman
Dave Carlin	...	News Reporter
Joe Campana	...	Brandt Huntington
Chris Andrew Ciulla	...	UPU 4 Officer 3 (as Chris Ciulla)
Rebekah Del Rio	...	Vanessa Vera Cruz
Aaron Dillar	...	Jimmy Hermosa
Nora Dunn	...	Cyndi Pinziki
Shari Dunn	...	USI Dent Reporter
Michele Durrett	...	Starla Von Luft
Jon Falcone	...	Soldier Falcon
Leila Feinstein	...	Herself
Jaret Gardiner	...	Shane Laverne

Also Known As:

Southland Tales (Germany) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, violence, sexual material and some drug content.

Runtime:

145 min | France:160 min (Cannes Film Festival) | Argentina:160 min

Country:

Germany | USA | France

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | UK:15 | Ireland:16 | South Korea:15 | Australia:MA | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 | Singapore:M18 | Brazil:16 | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

Hermosa Beach, California, USA

Company:

Cherry Road Films

Trivia:

The film makes various literary references: T.S. Eliot (The Hollow Men), Philip K. Dick (Flow my Tears the Policeman Said) and Robert Frost (Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Walter Mung throws the check back at Zora, it lands on the floor. As she leaves the truck, the check has somehow been placed on the counter (right side of the screen).

Quotes:

Baron Von Westphalen: Our mission is to destroy Capitalism, dethrone God.
Boxer Santaros: Officer Roland Taverner. That's who you want.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: The Worst of 2007" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Three Days

Disappointing

The real failure of this film isn't that it's overcomplicated in terms of plot. It is definitely overloaded with plots and subplots, characters, and various allusions to the arts. Its downfall is that it uses its central theme of media criticism as an excuse not to present its ideas coherently -- it critiques an incoherent form in an incoherent way. Pot Kettle Black.

The primary thing that keeps the film from succeeding as a whole is its constant shifts in tone. While the filmmakers might argue that they are aping/satirizing the way we get information through the media, it makes for a rotten experience at the cinema. Some scenes are sketch comedy, some are ponderous (in a good sense), there is a bit of action and bit of fun with setting of the film. Without a truly riveting lead character or other weighted focus point it falls apart -- really by the conclusion of the film it's just white noise.

The casting is meant to be part of the media critique, but it's works against the film to keep thinking, 'hey -- that's the guy from Revenge of the Nerds and Moonlighting again', and keeps you distracted from the plot and characters' relationship to the plot. When thinking of this aspect of the film AFTER viewing it's a straightforward idea -- hey the filmmakers are saying that the government is using entertainment to keep us from following the real news, man! But during the actual experience of watching the film, the casting starts one thinking of Mars Attacks or dare I say it, Cannonball Run......

The lighting was very flat, which I assume again is part of the 'fast food media' critique - but ugly is still ugly. Especially considering Donnie Darko I was expecting something worth looking at visually. There are some big IDEAS presented visually, but they are not visually interesting in a formal sense. There has to be SOMETHING for the audience to hang its hat on beyond an idea. Cinema is a sensate experience, not merely an intellectual one.

I look forward to reading about this someday in Scott Tobias's "My Year Of Flops - Redux" on the Onion AV Club....