Dir.
Todd Solondz, 2001, USA , 87 mins
Cast:
Selma Blair, Leo Fitzpatrick, Robert Wisdom, Aleksa Palladino, Paul Giamatti, Mike Schank, John Goodman, Julie Hagerty, Jonathan Osser
The theatrical trailer for Todd Solondz's Storytelling carried a disclaimer. In it the producer and distributor apologised for the promo's incompleteness, dismissing the director's desire to keep the first part of the film secret as a whim. A conflict? Well, once you've seen the film it's clear that this clever piece of marketing sums up Storytelling perfectly; all division, authority and responsibility - it's a film all about artists and their creative process and Solondz's most interesting to date.
Divided into two sections, Storytelling starts with Fiction . It is this that Solondz 'kept' under wraps in the trailer and it turns out to be a simply, powerfully told tale only taking up a third of the run-time, but of course, Storytelling's sections can't be considered exclusively. After all, how can there be Non-Fiction without Fiction in the first place?
Belle and Sebastian's score rises as the director kicks off Fiction - in typical style - with an emotional, intimate scene between two creative writing students Vi and Marcus (Blair and Fitzpatrick). Within seconds he's opening cracks in their relationship and within minutes splitting them apart under the abuse of their bullish, Pulitzer prize-winning tutor Mr Scott (Wisdom).
Solondz makes us voyeurs from the start and our tacit involvement really pays off in the clever denouement where events we've already uncomfortably witnessed are relayed to the writing class for their scrutiny as a work of fiction. In fact, it is in its conclusion that Fiction hits its stride - the brilliantly realised device of the story inside the story brutally sums up that all fiction is essentially autobiographical. As Mr Scott ominously declares, "once you start writing, it all becomes fiction."
The second section, Non-Fiction, expands on that theme, mixing in a raft of social commentary as wannabe documentary film-maker Toby Oxman (Giametti) seems to find an ideal subject in wannabe school drop-out Scooby and his eclectic family. Here Solondz expands the cast and scope for his themes, once again proving his skill at examining profound issues with the most fleeting of touches.
Scooby and Toby, the two outsiders in their own worlds, find the 'connections' they need for the fame they want in each other. And from the toilet they meet in, Solondz tackles the 'film within the film' head on, even self-consciously; we see a family meal early on with overpowering father (Goodman), misunderstandings and argument, but later on through the documentary camera it's all tongue biting and clenched fists. After the narrower scope of Fiction , Solondz unleashes surreal dream sequences, a surprise cameo and even a swift American Beauty pastiche; he clearly enjoys turning the camera back on itself.
Reality, reputation, authority and misrepresentation thereof all play big parts in Storytelling , and so we can deduce, the creative process. Of particular note is Jonathan Osser's performance in Non-Fiction as Scooby's brother Mikey, a precociously unsettling performance that is just as unforgiving as Robert Wisdom's in Fiction . But, overall the film is an ensemble piece, valuing solid performances over scene stealing and Storytelling is all the better for it. It's a shame Non-Fiction's pacing is disrupted as the myriad themes seem to rush to a conclusion, especially as this is where Fiction soars - but in a film of two halves about artists a little discordance could be appropriate.
Storytelling is a fascinating concept, and proves Solondz's once again as a writer-director to watch, though it could benefit from more balance between its constituent parts as much as repeated viewing. Not bad for a whim, then.
Matt Goddard
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