Chattanooga Film Festival Movie Reviews: “Climate of the Hunter,” “Fulci for Fake,” and “Jumbo”
By: Joseph Perry (Twitter - Uphill Both Ways Podcast)
Prolific indie director Mickey (Strike, Dear Mistress, and Cure His Heart ) Reece’s latest feature Climate of the Hunter is set once upon a time — probably in the very early 1970s, going by the film’s set and costume design vibes and cinematic style — in a family cabin deep in the woods, where freewheeling Alma (Ginger Gilmartin) goes to visit her uptight hermit sister Elizabeth (Mary Buss). The two middle-aged siblings are cold and verbally cruel to one another, and when Alma’s debonair ex-flame Wesley (Ben Hall in a mesmerizing performance) comes calling after his wife loses her mind, tensions grow even higher when the sisters vie for his affection. Complicating matters even more is that Wesley is showing signs of being a vampire.
The ensemble cast members — which also includes Wesley’s bitter son Percy (Sheridan McMichael), Alma’s paranoid neighbor BJ Beavers (Jacob Snovel), and Alma’s headstrong daughter Rose (Danielle Evon Ploeger) — are all pitch perfect, with the three leads absolutely shining. Reece, who cowrote the screenplay with frequent collaborator John Selvidge, directs splendidly, letting his cast members throw their all into the dialogue-heavy material while flavoring the proceedings with a distinct 1970s Eurohorror/arthouse horror ambience and a distinct air of mystery. Climate of the Hunter is highly recommended for connoisseurs of independent cinema, horror or otherwise.
Italian feature Fulci for Fake takes a unique approach in presenting a docu-drama about revered director Lucio [City of the Living Dead [1980]; The Beyond [1981]) ) Fulci. Writer/director Simone Scafidi sets up the premise that actor Nicola Nocella is set to portray Fulci in a movie, sending the actor on a quest to learn as much about Fulci as he can. This includes an extensive interview with daughter Camilla — indeed, the film focuses more on Fulci as a father than a giallo filmmaker — and chinwags with Fulci’s cinematographer Sergio Salvati and composer Fabio Frizzi, among others, along with fictitious segments in which Nocella muses on matters as he interacts with an actress. Camilla’s candid and heartfelt discussions about her father highlight this work; sadly, she passed away just after the film was completed. Those hoping for a deep dive into Fulci’s oeuvre may be disappointed, but as a presentation of the father and husband behind the cameras and the myth, Fulci for Fake is an intriguing watch.
French dark fantasy Jumbo, which won the festival’s Audience Award, tells the tale of Jeanne Tantois (Noémie Merlant), a young woman whose new job at an amusement park leads her to fall in love with “Move It,” a brightly lit, multi-armed mechanical ride — and the feeling is mutual. Naturally, Jeanne’s mother Margarette (Emmanuelle Bercot) disapproves, as do most of the locals once word gets out, but Jeanne is determined to continue her emotional and physical — yes, it’s true, and what a cinematic sequence that is — relationship with the ride.
Writer/director Zoé Wittock has crafted a marvelous drama with stunning visuals that plays upon the beats of “forbidden love” and “descent into madness” movies but does so in a thoroughly unique manner. Merlant gives a stellar, riveting performance, wholly committed to her portrayal of a woman given over to amour fou despite what anyone else thinks. The rest of the cast is terrific, too, including Sam Louwyck as Margarette’s new boyfriend Hubert and Bastien Bouillon as Jeanne’s boss and would-be suitor Marc. With a debut feature this outstanding, Wittock is a fabulous new talent to keep a close eye on.
Climate of the Hunter, Fulci for Fake, and Jumbo screened as part of Chattanooga Film Festival’s 2020 virtual edition, which ran May 22–25.
This review article is in memory of VideoScope Publisher and Editor Joe Kane.
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