Broken Side of Time

First off, for people who seem to think every good indie film review is written by someone associated with the film, I have NOTHING to to with the film, the filmmakers, the cast, any of them. I read these silly comments here all the time, and wonder why people can't just understand we all have different tastes. I think big action movies suck. But I don't write reviews claiming that every good review was written by someone involved with the production. It's just ridiculous.

That said, Broken Side of Time is a beautiful film about a woman's journey to rediscover herself, to start over, when she realizes the job she loves now belongs to 18-year-olds and she can't and won't compete.

The opening half hour is a brilliant piece of acting my Lynn Mancinelli. There is virtually no dialog during this section. Instead, we see and feel the internal pain she's going through to come to the realization that she MUST move on with her life. Anyone who's ever been in a situation where they know they must make a decision they don't want to make will understand. It's like knowing you need to break up with someone. We see how hard the decision is for her.

The zippo lighter scene kills me. First off, it appears to be the only light used in the scene. It's stark, it's heartbreaking, it's how humans actually behave in real life. And for the record, it's about 30 seconds, not fifteen minutes. But for people with ADD, well...y'know.

Once she gets in the car and begins the road trip home, at about the 32 minute mark, the film changes tone. We see her come to accept her decision, and even turn from a very depressed creature, into the stunning model she once was. And as she slowly gives up the vices in her life, we see her smile for the first time. We see her begin to enjoy life.

Everything about this film is beautiful. From the performances, to the music to the way it was shot. It felt real to me. I've been there. Every woman I know has as well.

Broken Side of Time is what an indie film SHOULD be. Allow yourself to get lost in her journey. You won't be disappointed.

And if you're looking for a comparison, it's very much like a French film. Think Blue Is The Warmest Color. Or the American indie film Starlet. That's the vibe. If your attention span is that of a 4-year-old, this is not the film for you.

Greetings,

Thank you for checking out the IMDb page for my new narrative feature, "Broken Side of Time."

This is a film that grew out of making my first documentary, "Color Me Obsessed, a film about The Replacements," and the idea of shooting a fiction film the same way we'd shoot a documentary. No script. Just an idea for a beginning and an end, and we'd let the footage captured dictate the story when we got to the editing room. But I knew to make that work I needed a brilliant lead actress, so I turned to Lynn Mancinelli from my "Friends (With Benefits)." She will break your heart in this film. She will speak to the wrong decisions we all make, the abuse we often times inflict upon ourself, knowing we need to stop, but unable to, until rock bottom is hit.

"Broken Side of Time" is a story about redemption. About starting over. About hitting that rock bottom, and realizing you are the only one who can save yourself. Lynn's character, Dolce, needs to reinvent herself at 30 and start over. And that is never easy.

The 11 professional photo shoots depicted in the film were all real shoots, with some of the best photographers located on our road trip between Connecticut and Detroit. They were shot cinéma vérité style. My camera set into a corner, capturing the action as it unfolded. The only instructions to the photographers: Lynn had to be called by her character's name.

I'm very proud of this film. It was made by a very small crew. At times I was the only person behind the camera (shooting, directing, doing sound), Lynn was the only person in front of it (also doing hair and makeup). The most crew members ever on set numbered 5 during the bar scenes, proof that a small collection of people who really know what they're doing can make a film look as good as a crew of 20 or 60 or more.

By ordering this DVD or renting/purchasing the film on a digital platform, you are supporting indie film the way it was meant to be. (This is not a $20 million dollar Hollywood version of "independent" cinema.) I truly think you'll find "Broken Side of Time" raw and heartbreaking, and Lynn's performance beautiful. Hopefully it's a film that will stay with you for a long long time. A film that you will return to, finding some deeper meaning each time you watch it. Spotting a shot that you somehow missed the first time around. One that now takes your breath away.

Thank you for coming along with us on this amazing ride.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Until next time...

Gorman Bechard director/editor/cinematographer, "Broken Side of Time"

P.S. The DVD edition on sale May 20, 2014, features a number of great EXTRAS, including: 5 extended unedited photo shoots, a bunch of deleted scenes, extended scenes, and some really funny blooper outtakes. Plus there's a featurette on how we created the look and feel of the film, and got it made on such a low budget using KickStarter.

It happens to Dolce, to Federer, to Ronaldo, to you, me every one who one day goes over the hill, goes down side due to age, jadedness, staleness and you face what Dolce faces in this film. Its upto you, how gracefully and correctly you face it, change yourself and accept new changed life. She has tried her best, little slow in pace but message is clear. Change is change less, accept it.

OK, I have never done this, but I am 35 minutes into this film and cannot believe how awful this film is! The first 30 minutes were spent with one character. She played with her lighter for 15 minutes, spent some time on the phone, etc. The film is slightly over 2 hours long and I am getting sick and tired of people associated with a film writing phony reviews. Film making is an art, it requires a particular kind of talent and skill. Owning equipment does not a film maker make!! I wish there was some way to control bogus reviews because this does not qualify as a film! I am tired of wasting my time watching stuff that's unwatchable.

Spare yourself and pass this one by quickly!!

When I saw this movie at a festival in NYC last year I left deeply appreciative of how this production truly takes great advantage of the medium to do more than tell a story, but to leave a visceral impression, an experience of a lifestyle I knew very little about. Lynn Mancinelli's Dolce, an Alt model, is on a personal road to change, and the narrative is compelling (helped by an expert, understated performance by Mancinelli)- but what makes the film different most of all is how it somehow, by the time the film comes to its peaceful close, creates in the viewer the sensation of having experienced what it might like to be photographed so many times in one's life, in one's career - and how the clicking and flashing becomes a kind of battery. The beauty of the result of the photography is for the unknowing, anonymous viewer - but this film gets you inside the subject of such photography - not only on a level of empathy, but somehow, and I still can't really articulate how, on an internal level. I felt like I experienced something ironic, and that Bechard and these storytellers do a real service by bringing the unbeautiful hustle and poison in such an industry to the forefront. I like learning something about things when I watch a movie- and this really surprised me in a good way.