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My review of 'The Bondage' at Sedona

posted 17 years ago by larry-411
6 replies | jump to latest

I saw The Bondage at the Sedona International Film Festival. The film was shown for the first time since last March when it had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. But not only had nobody seen it in almost a year, this was also the first time anyone has seen the new version of the film, which is 15 minutes shorter than the one shown a year ago.

Nobody connected with the film could be present, however. We were told that writer-director Eric Allen Bell had to cancel because his new project was moved up and he had to go to work on it. Illeana Douglas had to cancel for the same reason. But I guess that, in a way, is good news. It's especially exciting that the talented Bell has something in the works which is now underway. So as there was no Q&A, I won't be posting any pictures or videos. I've also written and posted my review after the previous screenings in a SXSW blog. But I still can report on the event itself.

There was a lot of curiosity surrounding the film. The blurb in the guide makes it a bit hard to pigeonhole the film. Many people were talking about it in the lobby. I heard some folks discussing whether or not to see it, and I naturally chimed in with a few words, having seen it twice. Others approached me when we were waiting to go in. So there was definitely interest.

The audience loved it. They laughed at the funny moments, even more than they had at SXSW. And there were gasps and tears at others. I was paying a lot of attention to the audience reaction. Afterward everyone said it was one of the best films they'd seen. A couple behind me said it was better than any of the films there.

It's a difficult film to "sell" to the public. On the face of it, a drama about a kid's experiences in juvy doesn't sound too compelling (unless you've been there). But it's much more than that, and those willing to give it a chance are not disappointed. Of course, as lead actor Michael Angarano's star is on the rise it should help the film. He has 3 others playing the festival circuit. I just saw the World Premiere of Snow Angels at Sundance and Man in the Chair at Santa Barbara. Both have received critical acclaim and a lot of press. Another film of his playing festivals is Black Irish. All are still looking for distributors.

My #1 interest in going was to compare the new film to the "old" one. I wanted to see what was cut. I obviously can't go into too much detail since it wouldn't make much sense unless you've seen it. But none of the "major" scenes which I remembered were missing. I had a list of what I'd hoped to see and all those scenes stayed. There were 3 scenes in particular that I noticed had been cut but they were not essential and I didn't really miss them. One had been confusing to people anyway and I'm a bit happy they cut it. The other 2 were funny but not that important. I know a lot more was cut but I couldn't tell, so I guess that's a good thing.

Overall, I am very very happy. Knowing that 15 minutes had been cut was not pleasing and I had been concerned. But my fears were unfounded.

I had forgotten how good it is, and how amazing Angarano's performance is. Since I'd seen it, I've seen all 3 other new films of his. All together I've seen those 3 films about 8 times. So that's a lot of his acting since Bondage at SXSW. So now, after having seen his performances in Black Irish, Snow Angels, and Man in the Chair many times, I am reminded that The Bondage is still the only film he has ever done where he is really "the star" of the film. The others may feature him as the lead actor, but they are basically ensemble pieces or involve a couple of actors at least. And although there are some other excellent actors in this film, Angarano carries The Bondage alone more than any other film.

I can't wait for people to see it

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The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.

[–] ajgans 17 years ago

I'm glad you heard people talking about it. I haven't run into anyone else who saw it. Maybe there were more people at the Friday matinee. What were the deleted scenes?

[–] larry-411 17 years ago

I was at the Friday screening. There were definitely more than were at the one you attended, but I didn't get the number.

There were 3 scenes in particular that I noticed were cut (and I know that only people who have seen the film would understand):

1) Remember when Charlie's mom is wondering where Charlie goes off to in the afternoons? There is a playground near them where Charlie, his brother, and friends would go to drink and get high. There was a scene of them partying there and a conversation that took place at a picnic table. Charlie's brother says that Charlie has never kissed a girl. There is a reference to it later. In the school scene where they are trashing it, Charlie asks his brother, "why did you say that I never kissed a girl?" That was a reference to that conversation earlier which was cut. It affects continuity but I'm not sure how many people would wonder why he said that.

One of the kids at the picnic table is deaf and can't hear what the brothers are saying. So the friend next to the deaf kid says, "Charlie said he wants to kiss you." They continue getting high and this eventually leads up to where Charlie and his brother get the paint (it ends up on their faces), which is where the scene begins in the new version.

There was a lot more in that scene and I may have some of the dialog wrong, but I think that was the essence of it.

2) Remember in the lunch room at the mental hospital when Anjelica starts to tell a kid a story about a duck? Then the kid is pulled out before she can tell the story. The scene ends there. In the original version, Charlie then asks her to tell the story, and she tells it. Charlie doesn't understand it.

I remember that after the original film, people were wondering what it meant also.

3) In the original, writer-director Eric Allen Bell has a cameo. An ambulance pulls up and he is taken out of the back, screaming that he's not crazy. It was kind of funny. That was cut out.

I'll have to read the screenplay again to see what else was cut but if you want to, you can read it here:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=103312818&blogID=216582969&Mytoken=1DAB4873-6DCE-4740-AEDFC963889A2ABD43124089

Those scenes I mentioned are laid out in detail there.

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EDIT: Just remembered another. In the original, Charlie is standing by their pool in a pair of board shorts. His dad is sitting in their sailboat nearby. He calls Charlie over. His dad is naked. That's where we discover that his dad likes to lounge around in the nude. Later in the film, Charlie and his mom come home from the movies and they see dad walking naked in the yard. That had been established in the sailboat scene that was cut. In the new version, it's never explained that he likes to walk around naked and I wonder if people will be confused by it. I'm not sure if it affects continuity, though. It was funny on its own.

Also, when Charlie is standing next to his dad in the shorts and his dad is naked, there is a sense that his dad is going to proposition him in some way. That establishes the fact that he molested him. In the new version, we don't know that until the scene in the bedroom where dad asks him to shower with him. But the sailboat scene never really reveals that anyway. It only was filled with tension for me because I knew going in to the movie when I saw it that there was molestation in the storyline. So when I saw the sailboat scene, I thought that's what was going to happen. So I'm not sure it was necessary to establish that there was abuse in the household, though, since it wasn't clear in that scene anyway.

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The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.

[–] JakeJarvi 17 years ago

hey larry 411-

Did Trey (the deaf kid) get cut out of the flick entirely?

[–] larry-411 17 years ago

I believe so. The playground scene is gone. Unless Trey was in another scene. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

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The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.

[–] awakenunwoken 17 years ago

Nope, you're not wrong. Unfortunately the very funny Trey scene was deleted and will be shown only on DVD extras. It was a great scene but we they were running into a run time problem.

- Eccentric Cattle Entertainment, Inc.

[–] larry-411 17 years ago

Thanks for the info! "DVD extras" sounds very exciting -- definitely something I will be looking forward to!

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The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.