Bellflower: Review By Bryan Yentz

Upon entering what I'm sure is a piece of heaven fallen to us lowly sinners--The Alamo Drafthouse--I walked through the poster-adorned hallways with an ear-to-ear smile plastered across my face and a beautiful woman graced around my arm. Just as we neared the threshold of what would surely be a celluloid dream, who should stride out with such a swagger that Zach Effron would fall to his knees and weep, but that of Conan his'self! Jason Mamoa! The walls shook with his entitled gait; the ground cracked-and behind him-an entourage of beer-clutching fans and plebeians, I mean, cameramen. I pointed and spoke to my girlfriend, "That's Conan!!!" and then I remembered... "Wait... I don't care about that actor... I'm not even here for such drivel which would be labeled as guilty entertainment at best, I'm f*cking here for BELLFLOWER! And with that, we bid Conan farewell and hopped, skipped and bounced our way into what would become a beautifully heartbreaking exploration of friendship, love and betrayal founded in the post-apocalyptic ashes of MAD MAX; conceived from the blood, sweat and iron of Lord Humungus himself.

I believe it safe to say that any film, book, videogame, song or philosophical saying is made all the stronger when it's preceded by a quote from the lead villain of THE ROAD WARRIOR, Lord Humungus (though I'm pretty sure they spelled his name wrong in the flick, as has every critic since). Knowing this to be as true as snow in Alaska, writer director Evan Goddard preceded his first, jaw-dropping feature debut with one of the masked menace's most iconic phrases, "Lord Humungus cannot be defied!" Such an offbeat use of quotation sets the ever-shifting tone of the chaos to come. BELLFLOWER, despite its eventual narrative shortcomings, is nonetheless an incredibly impressive work of dynamic filmmaking, earnest performances and spectacularly vicious sound-design. Amongst my most treasured films of this year (some of which include SUPER, HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN and BLACK DEATH), BELLFLOWER has earned a solid place.

Infused with the indellible idea that mankind will eventually destroy itself and give way to a post-apocalyptic world of dog-eat-dog madness; two best friends, Woodrow (Even Glodell--who also wrote, produced and directed) and Aiden (Tyler Dawson), dedicate their lives to creating a gang deemed, "Mother Medusa" for when such times arise. For when the plume of black mushrooms rise in the distance, they'll be driving wild with their decked out piece of wheels, spewing fire from the mouth of flamethrowers with one hand and tossing shells from a sawed-off shotgun with the other. But because plans can never go according to plan, the friends' fantasy is placed on a brief hiatus when one meets the spontaneous and quick-witted, Milly (Jessie Wiseman). From here, a trail of emotional devastation is waged as one act of betrayal gives way to another and dreams which were believed to be so close are pulled ever farther away.

At its core, BELLFLOWER is about friendship and many of the warring factions which seem to be at odds within the mind of a young man. Dreams and aspirations are plastered against everyday realities and truths; perceptions of love of loyalty are grated against fears of loss and paranoia; empathy and emotional rebuilding are governed by primal brutality and a sense of alpha-male superiority. One critic deemed this film to be the best of its nature since FIGHT CLUB, and in many ways it is. This is a film about men and the vicarious paths they can take to feeling like more than the sum of their parts; feeling excepted. And on that, BELLFLOWER wonderfully succeeds in presenting relatable conflicts and questionable resolutions for such young, misguided personalities. Conveying a range of emotion is actor/director/writer Even Glodell who undergoes a constant shift of character from that of an awkward, clean-shaven, love-obsessed boy to that of a frustrated, heartbroken, blood-stained, flame-throwing vigilante. It's rare that a movie properly parallels a character's emotional state with that of his exterior, but BELLFLOWER does it admirably. Really, while the acting and character development herein are spectacular for everyone across the board, the friendship between Woodrow and Aiden is the true selling point. In fact, much of their dialogue sounded ripped from the conversations I carry with my best friend. The bond between them doesn't feel written; it feels believable.

Elevating BELLFLOWER above that of typical indie fodder is that of grainy and beautifully white-hot filtered cinematography. Deep and shallow depths of field give way to all but blurry shots with a single portion of detail. Smudged and dust-flecked lenses seem to have been demanded as they don't hinder the quality of the film, but actually add to the dirty style of it all. Pitch-black shots lit only by the belch of a massive flame; a Buick Skylark drifting in slow-motion--smoke rising in its wake; a silhouette rising in front of a gloomy window... As improvised as these shots seem, they nonetheless possess a fantastically grimy personality which is positively benefitting of the film as a whole. Outside of HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN, I strongly doubt one will find any film of recent memory more in tune with its visual presentation than this.

Directly alongside the eye-searing splendor is that of fantastic sound design and music which provide an excellent backdrop of emotional power to that of what one is witnessing onscreen. Seemingly taking hints from composers/musicians like Nick Cave, the musical cues and punctuation of hard-edged sounds create a film which could have been absent any dialogue and much of the meaning and power would still be retained due to the audible excellence herein. If I might make but one suggestion, however, it's that better sound recording might be used in future projects as various scenes appear as though the dialogue and background audio were recorded at inconsistent levels.

With all of the things Bellflower does right, it's a shame to see some of that falter a bit during its final powerslide to the finish. While it's rare that I actually appreciate such a universally used "twist", I found that the application of such within the confines of BELLFLOWER worked quite well in reference to the range of warring emotions erupting inside men on the verge of adulthood. My issue however was with its execution. One the one hand, it creates a narrative which can be observed in a far more interesting light and gives way to possible discussion for interpretation. In the other, it's convoluted and slightly questionable. While this finale and denouement is both beautiful and appropriately disturbing, I'm willing to bet that this will most likely be many a viewer's largest complaint.

BELLFLOWER isn't just a remarkable feature-debut, it's the kind of film that directors like Spielberg, Scorsese and Scott still wish they were capable of making. I had been looking forward to BELLFLOWER since I discovered its inception and have come away quite satiated with what it so boldly had to offer. I might have been let down regarding some of the more climactic methods used to tell its sordid story, but alas, I was let down gently. Even still, any negative parts are outweighed by the whole. BELLFLOWER may not be the ayatollah of rock 'n rolla, but dammit, it gets pretty close.