Director:
Neil Young
Starring:
Sarah White
Ben Keith
Elizabeth Keith
Erik Markegard
James Mazzeo
Release: 19 Mar. 04
IMDb
|
Greendale
BY: DAVID PERRY
Neil Young and most of the folk music scene isn’t
particularly my cup of tea, nor are polemics with little context besides one
man’s rant. But I do like experiments with narrative filmmaking, and
Greendale, even if a needless selection of the other three, is an experiment
that must be seen to be believed.
Does this mean I recommend Greendale? Absolutely not -- it’s one of the most
inane, idiotic, and annoying films to come along in some time. And yet I was
hypnotized by its faults. Bad singing coupled with a bad story and homemade
sets turns this into more of a joke than anything else. It’s a Mystery
Science Theater 3000 movie without the slightest need for Joel/Mike and the
robots.
Yet this is an incredibly political film, so much that I expect hilarity was
Young’s last intent. Greendale is so intoxicated by its Message that I
can believe no one in the cast and crew (surely adherents to Young’s
Green Party platform schematics) stopped to consider how ridiculous the
whole endeavor was. The Young element, the folk music, and the
politics were the least of my worries, but this unintentional experiment in
testing the audience’s tolerance in watching an utterly bad film is
brilliant.
|