Half-Life

It was better than I expected from the trailer -- I was recommended by a friend who saw it at a film festival, and I found the themes resonating with the turmoil in many lives around me.

Haunting and beautiful, eerie and prescient. The performances by the younger actors (Sanoe Lake and Alexander Agate) were inspiring and charged with the right level of emotional inflection to make their characters seem real.

There was a really strong supporting cast, with quirky moments that were darkly funny. The animation, for an independent film, was creative and invoked the alternate reality quite well.

I would definitely recommend the film, and it was great to see a new emerging female director premiere at Sundance!

The film explores major-themes in Multiculturalism and the human angst for the 21st century. What is specifically startling is how vibrant the aesthetic approach is in production value. Although reportedly not a high budget project, Phang's mis-en-scene is breath-taking. Also worth noting is the extremely likable performance by Alexander Agate, who rivals any child performance to date (reminded me of the powerful performance by Anna Paquin for THE PIANO.) While the pacing may not be for everyone, I think this is a film for the type of audience who enjoys a cerebral experience similar to DONNIE DARKO or Pink Floyd's THE WALL. The original score takes a post-modern approach of incidental music, which is very innovative in keeping the film from being too sentimental.

It's pretty well described as "pre-apocalyptic drama" (though I'm not sure "drama" is the right word… it does have pretty hilarious moments too.), where a family finds themselves in a world sunk in environmental chaos, while still trying to cope with their own problems. The focus, of course, is not in the setting, but the particular ordeals that the incredibly diverse family have to face: a stressed out mother, Saura, a jaded daughter, Pam, and a reclusive younger son with strange paranormal powers, Tim. Also surrounding the family is Saura's manipulative boyfriend Wendell and Pam's recently outed best friend Scott, for whom she happens to hold deeper feelings than mere friendship. And fully closing the circle there's Tim's teacher and Scott's lover. Oh, and did I forget to mention that Scott's parents are zealous Christians?

The movie manages to blend in live-action scenes with beautifully hand-drawn surreal animated scenes to represent the main characters' fantasy world, giving it a really unique and original feel. I was even told by the filmmakers that they spent three years on the animation alone, so basically most of it was hand drawn frame by frame!

As you can see, there are A LOT of stories to be told, and Jennifer Phang's script does it wonderfully, not leaving a single detail out. The script is beautiful, even poetic, with the characters and their motivations tangible in every scene. But the movie is not just drama; like when Scott is talking to his father about 'reasserting things'. Scott's reply is just PRICELESS: "reassert what, my rectum?". And with some very laugh out loud moments like that one, the movie takes on an even more realistic feel.

One thing I really enjoyed was the music: it just felt RIGHT for every scene and it was beautifully written.

If you're looking for a beautifully told -and on top of everything VERY HUMAN- story, Half- Life may just do it. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

HALF-LIFE is an apocalyptic tale set in a world undergoing catastrophic change. The land, seas, and atmosphere are all in chaos. With all of this happening around them, a woman, her boyfriend, and her two children struggle with issues unrelated to world-wide calamity.

Their struggles stem from the loss of the woman's husband, who deserted her and their children. The global devastation is a symbolic backdrop for the destruction caused by deep psychological / emotional loss.

Anyone who has ever lost someone dear to them, or been abandoned by someone, especially at a young age, knows the agony, terror, and cold reality presented here. Such loss knocks the world off of its axis, and nothing is ever the same.

This film is extraordinary in its exploration of this...

I plucked Half-Life off the shelf at my local video store this weekend, popped it in the DVD player, and couldn't tear my eyes away. This film is for those who love their Donnie Darko, American Beauty, Lawn Dogs, The Fall, Paperhouse, and Where the Wild Things Are mixed together with 100% originality and vision by director Jennifer Phang. I've long been obsessed with stories -- books, movies, visual art -- that capture that magical place between reality and fantasy. Growing up, I was a nerdy bookworm who -- to deal with my parents' divorce, kids bullying me at school, my emerging sense of being gay -- lost himself in realms of the supernatural. At my own making. I think. What's so beautiful about this film is not only the stunning cinematography and editing, the tightly written and profoundly sad story, nor the naturally gifted cast whom work perfectly together as an ensemble, but this sense that sometimes we really don't know where reality ends and fantasy begins. We make up stories to capture meaning, to imbue everyday circumstances with mystery and a connect-the-dots way of thinking. But what if -- mixed somewhere in with all this -- is true magic? Whole other parallel universes and ideas that tie in with ours, that are maybe even drawn to our own realities because of the way we personally see the world? Half-Life -- a deeply spiritual film -- asks these kinds of questions. Tim, our young protagonist, seeks to understand why his father left and why his mother, Saura, has gotten involved with the handsome yet manipulative Wendell. Tim and his teenage sister, Pamela, struggle with loneliness, friendships, sexuality, trust, and the meaning of family as they fall more and more into the tangled web of Wendell's desire to control theirs. At once haunting, melancholy, hopeful, whimsical, bleak, fresh, and daring, Half-Life is the kind of film that not only tells an amazing story but captures that story through a revitalized and unique vision by its director. This movie is personal. It takes chances. It dares to let you inside Jennifer Phang's mind -- and even more importantly, her heart.

Here's a link to the film: www.halflifemovie.com You should watch this. Now.