This is a portrait of James "JJ'88" Jacobs who was sentenced to two life terms when he was 15 and began to compose music and songs while he was in the hole (solitary confinement)
While you have seen this sort of story before, the truth is you haven't seen this story, nor have you seen anything like this before. A combination of straight forward telling mixes with dance sequences, dream sequences, recreations, experimental imaging and meta- making of bits in order to create a one of kind film that breaks walls and genres.
All hail director Contessa Gayles, who was smart enough to know not to try and constrain the story or its telling. Giving the story and Mr Jacobs free rein she has done what probably no other director would ever do and that create a film that is alive and breathing and close to a cinematic portrait of the actual person as you can get. Brilliantly using the conversations and the letters of the incarcerated Jacobs to fullest effect to give us a you are there feel.
Additionally Gayles uses all sorts of visual tricks to fill in the story of a man who is locked up. The best trick of all is that Jacobs never feels locked up. For the entire film he feels as though he s right there in the theater with us. This is true movie magic.
What a great film.
This is easily one of the very best films playing SXSW this year. I only wish I had seen it before I did my curtain raiser so I could have included it and gotten word out sooner.
No comments:
Post a Comment