thoughtcrumbs

Gorgeous Northfork

The underhyped movie Northfork has breathtaking cinematography, far surpassing the bar set by other beautiful films like The Scent of Green Papaya and The Sixth Sense. Buildings, landscapes, and costumes were deliberately desaturated; the directors admitted to using silver films, smoke, and prop tricks (such as grayscale Campbell Soup cans and a black-and-white American flag) to remove as much color as possible. With subtlety and balance, each shot begs to be framed and mounted in a gallery (and in fact, the DVD includes a series of stills). At first viewing, I was so enraptured with the photography that I forgave its confusing plot, but upon a second watching the intelligent storyline made sense and I'm now just as captivated by the writing.

A fifties Montana town is being evacuated in preparation for a hydroelectric dam that will inundate the land. Fedora-ed henchmen "assist" intransigent residents, including a modern-day Noah, in departing. Meanwhile, a moribund boy communes with otherwordly visitors, and the viewer can decide which scenes are real and which are dreams. Angel metaphors pervade each shot, from feathers pressed in a Bible to the henchmen's wingtip shoes.