City Loop

I saw "city loop" at Toronto a couple of years ago and more recently on Cable here in Australia. The script is generally too smart by half and tries to be very sassy but the director just didn't pull it off.

It probably needed some flesh to be exposed for it to have any credibility as a teen flick of any worth. Nice try folks and it's a valiant effort for a low budget film but in the end you have to ask - WHY BOTHER?

Let me start by saying that I am big fan of art-house films that are most interested in exploring characters, treating them as people, and discovering the reasons behind their actions. Consequently my all-time favourite directors include Robert Altman (Short Cuts, Pret-a-Porter) and Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia, Boogie Nights). These directors take a mosaic of characters, and mould them into a spiderweb of interconnecting lives and situations. Also, more importantly, They Do It Well...

City Loop is a film that has the same feel as these films. It chooses characters such as: a sexually-inexperienced teenage guy who reveals his insecurity regarding sex; a girl who's in love with a gay guy; the promiscuous teenage girl always looking for attention - it seems that she just wants to be loved. The actors used in City Loop to portray these characters don't appear to accomplished actors in their own right, their dialogue isn't generally delivered realistically. What redeems their performances seems to be whatever techniques Chayko uses to access the emotional memory banks of the actors. She does it so well, in fact, that many of the scenes have powerful emotional charge. This is why I compare her to Paul Thomas Anderson, who uses actors who don't stand out in the sea of Hollywood actors, yet give outstanding performances in his films (eg John C. Reilly). This is one of the areas where she is a highly accomplished film-maker, giving her huge potential.

I didn't actually find this film entirely enjoyable. I was certainly interested and intrigued with the characters from start to finish, but was left with an unpleasant after-taste. What lets this film down is the music, too many coincidental meetings in such a large city, and a lack of all the "bits" that "juice up" the film and make it realistic, bringing the environment to life. The music is dull, and far too infrequent. Music should be used to compliment and intensify the emotions of the characters. Another thing that leaves a bad taste in your mouth, is the emptiness of the city, and the pizza store. This may well have been a technique used by Chayko to represent the coldness of the city, but with no further reference to that concept in the film, I'll have to assume it to be a fault. All that is needed is extras walking the streets, and cars to fill the roads to give the city the life that it should have.

In conclusion, though this film leaves a lot to be desired, I believe that Chayko may one day make a truly great film in the tradition of Happiness or Magnolia. Until then, I will certainly follow her career with a close watchful eye.

i loved this film. it is a great piece which is set around a group of teenagers working in a pizza joint. the action is real and gets you involved, but doesn't try to fool you with any industrial light and magic. that's what makes it so good - the characters are developed well, and the "story" type segmentation gives a great travelling theme - and the stories are cut with just enough continuity to make it interesting. the power and intensity of teenage lust, confusion, identity, and hormones are all exquisitely captured in this film. it is a great piece of work which is a credit to the actors and director. look for more of their stuff!!

Here in Belgium, City Loop was shown on the International Film Festival of Flanders, Ghent, but only a few people watched it. I was one of them, and I must say, I really enjoyed it. It was refreshing, original, especially in the way the story was told. It also had quite some funny bits, and the actors all succeeded in portraying real young people. I also liked the atmosphere that was created through the combination of night and the city, it was recognizable on one hand, and then again, so weird, so special. I would in fact like to know what city it was. I can't make any comparisons, because in fact, I have never seen a movie like this, and believe me, I have seen a lot of movies!

I'm finding this very difficult to write. After a few false starts I realise how hard it is to properly convey the unusual badness of "City Loop". It's not that it's VERY bad - "insufferably bad" is the strongest phrase I'd use - but it is, unlike many bad things, INDISPUTABLY bad. Moreover (and this is a different thing again) I don't see how anyone could take pleasure in watching it.

It's a multi-story ensemble pic in which the stories aren't really stories (they're CALLED stories - "Dom's Story", "Misha's Story", etc., but nothing to speak of happens in them), and the ensemble consists entirely of characters I found it impossible, and I mean IMPOSSIBLE, to take any interest in. (What I wanted to happen was ALWAYS whatever would bring the film to a merciful end.) All characters are amoral and inarticulate, they all move through the world at random, none of them have redeeming qualities (few of them even have qualities). Chayko tries to swindle us into caring by leaving crucial matters unexplained (an excuse to make us watch some scenes TWICE, as if once weren't bad enough), but it doesn't work.

I haven't exhausted the film's weaknesses. Photography is unattractive - although I get the feeling it probably wasn't the cinematographer's fault; it feels rather as if Chayko took the poor man (or woman - I fled as soon as the credits began, so I wouldn't know) to some ugly, bare location, asked him to film the ugliest part of it, and then tied his (/her) hands by firing the lighting technician. The music is also pretty drab. The best thing going for it is the fact that, although it seems as though it will never end, it really doesn't last very long.