Direction: Joe Denardo, Paul Felten
Country: USA
Slow Machine is a small, brazenly offbeat mumblecore film shot in 16mm and permeated with a mix of composed and experimental quirkiness. The idea matured in the mind of Paul Felten, who directed with Joe Denardo, and their risk-taking approach bore fruits. At certain moments, it feels like one’s watching an innocent Eric Rohmer tale distorted by the lens of David Lynch or Peter Strickland.
Set against the backdrop of New York City’s social and artistic life, the film investigates the life of theater actress Stephanie (Stephanie Hayes in her only second appearance on screen), whose brief, if deceitful, relationship with Gerard (Scott Shepherd), a NYPD counter-terrorism agent ends miserably. Tenacious male persuasion is everywhere, but Stephanie, who sees a possible life change in every person she meets, seems strong enough to deal with that fact. And that’s despite the traumas of her past. She also didn’t seem surprised with what she found when she moved into an upstate apartment filled with musicians.
Mounted with oozy psychedelic zest and bursting with fragmented dialogues, the film transcends pastiche, being delivered with shades of satire in an act of cinephilic homage to the genre embraced. What the directors present here could easily have gone wrong, but an array of elements - from the performances to the narrative morphology to the power of every closeup - makes it ultimately satisfying. A peak is achieved during Chloe Sovigny cameo scene, and the film keeps surprising you whenever you think you know where the story goes.
At its heart, Slow Machine is a character drama, but it’s also about the dynamics and strange encounters in the city of New York. If mumblecore is not your thing, just back off. If that's not the case, don’t sleep on this movie.
