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VIFF: Schizophrenic hobo zombies and killer tires galore

A duo-review of films o A. Zombie” and “Rubber”

By Angela Espinoza,
Arts Reviewer

ne would expect nothing less
O= the most prestigious

films to be screened at a film
festival. Or at the very least, a mediocre
project produced by a big name.
Either way, if you do enough digging
around, you tend to uncover some
extraordinary finds. Overwhelmed by
the more sophisticated films at the 2010
Vancouver International Film Festival
(VIFF), I forgot that sometimes a
film’s subject could be overtly literal or
completely irrelevant.

Case in point is the first film I’!
be discussing, L.A. Zombie (2010). To
be frank, L.A. Zombie was directed
by Canada’s own Bruce LaBruce, a
writer and director of obscure gay porn.
However, LaBruce (AKA Bryan Bruce)
has also made a living for himself as an
avant-garde filmmaker. Whether he’s
doing one or the other though, LaBruce
maintains a similar ‘style’ throughout
his works.

Although this version of L.A.
Zombie is apparently a severe edit of
the original, it’s been causing quite a
stir amongst the festival circuit. After
being banned from the Melbourne
International Film Festival, the
concurrent Melbourne Underground
Film Festival held an illegal secret
screening. Since the controversy, L.A.
Zombie has also been increasing in
popularity within the art house and
horror film crowds.

According to LaBruce, L.A. Zombie
is about a homeless man who suffers
from schizophrenic delusions of being
an alien zombie. Despite the edits and
one-hour run time, the film retains
LaBruce’s usual ‘plot points’. These
include experimenting with filters and
lights, taboo situations and characters,
and of course, explicit sex.

Then there’s the other side of the
spectrum, in this case called Rubber
(2010). Filmed in English, Rubber is
French DJ Quentin Dupieux’s (AKA
Mr. Ozio) third foray into filmmaking.
This time however, Dupieux has
performed the majority of the
tasks, from writing and directing to
cinematography and composing music.
The result is a simultaneous visual treat
for the subconscious mind.

Rubber tells the story of a tire

living in a California
desert. He suddenly
becomes animate,
learning to move on his
own, gleefully crushing
anything in his path.
When he comes across
a solid glass bottle
though, he becomes
enraged. In his anger,
the tire discovers that
he has a telekinetic,
Scanners-like ability to
explode anything and
everything. As the tire
finds himself following
a beautiful mystery
woman, an audience
watches the show

from an unspecified
distance.

While L.A. Zombie
was simple, Rubber’s
basic plot dissolves
in an array of bizarre
twists, breaking and
rebuilding the fourth
wall, blending multiple
genres, and dozens of references to
filmmaking and various films. Rubber’s
story relies heavily on the “no reason”
theory introduced in the opening
monologue. It parodies not only the
concept of filmmaking, but the movie
going experience as well.

When screened at this year’s
Cannes Film Festival, Rubber received
many negative reviews. For a country
that takes film seriously, watching
Dupieux’s take on the matter was
almost insulting. However, the reaction
has been different in North America.
Here, reviews have been somewhat
mixed; many get the humour and love
it, while others simply don’t understand
or — like at Cannes — find it immature.
The convenient thing about the film is
that within the first five minutes, you’ll
know if you want to watch the rest.

So there it is; if you ever have your
eye on a supposedly quirky film; make

sure you know what you’re getting into.

In my forty-eight hour VIFF venture, I
found myself bored (but not necessarily
disappointed) with L.A. Zombie. As

for Rubber, if you couldn’t tell by

now, I never wanted the experience to
end. If either of these works appeals

to you, hunt them down by any means

necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

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