DVD Review: Broken
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::Movie review
In my other non-DVD Reviewer life, I am an artist. More specifically, I run an ad agency, but that career path began with an interest in drawing and painting. The reason this is relevant is because in the world of art, one learns by copying the works of others. By removing yourself from the daunting task of originality, you are free to practice your technique.
As your technical skills improve, your own talents begin to emerge and your work becomes uniquely yours. In between these two extremes is a stage where your work is original, but obviously heavily influenced by those you admire.
The reason I bring this up in a DVD review is because I believe this transition exists in other creative arts as well, such as writing and filmmaking. Within mainstream Hollywood , we generally only witness artists toward the latter end of the transition. While certain elements may influence others, we can see definite and recognizably unique styles. For example, no one would ever confuse a film directed by Steven Spielberg for one shot by Michael Bay. Quentin Tarrantino's writing is in stark contrast to David Mamet's.
Rarely do we get to see where these filmmakers came from. That is, unless we turn to the world of independent film. Many of Hollywood 's successful (and many more who will never achieve that level) begin with extremely low budge and often derivative independent films. I use the term "derivative" here not as an insult, but rather as a point of fact. These relatively inexpensive films are like the early works of a fine artist, in that they are often very heavily influenced by other works. It is through these films that young directors can try out shots, figure out the ins and outs of good editing and, in short, learn what does and doesn't work.
Recently I watched a short (19 minute) film called Broken. Broken is a proof of concept, or rather, a proof of many concepts. Director Alex Ferarri uses Broken to test out his writing, directing, editing and even marketing skills. By taking on all of these duties, it's probably a good thing his film is only 19 minutes -- a longer effort likely would have killed him.
Broken is more or less a self contained story, but it is referred to as a trailer and it seems clear that Ferarri hopes to turn this into a much longer film. With under 20 minutes to work with, there is a lot of information left out of Broken, which may be the film's biggest weakness - it's just far too complex, and the necessary plotting shortcuts required make it rather vague and a little tough to digest. That isn't to say that there isn't a plot, or that it can't be followed, but rather that it seems best to watch Broken for the mood and atmosphere it tries to create.
The parallels to films like The Matrix, or virtually anything by Quentin Tarrantino are unmistakable. Broken really wants to be in that league and I think the only things stopping it are the lack of budget and Ferarri's relative lack of experience. However, while there are some clumsy shots and odd edits, Ferarri does show some raw talent and his work on Broken suggests that given the opportunity, he will improve.
Ultimately, Broken is interesting and I could certainly see Ferarri doing more with this world he has created. If he manages to find success in Hollywood , I'd like to see what Ferarri is able to do with this material once he's gotten a little more experience under his belt and has had the opportunity to finish finding his own voice. As is, Broken is a worthy effort.
::Video
The only real major strike against the video presentation of Broken is that the transfer is not anamorphic. Otherwise, the picture looks remarkably good, given the low budget production values. Filmmaker Ferrari obviously put a lot of work into squeezing every ounce out of this film that he could. Obviously, this can't be fairly compared to a mainstream film, but for what it is, the video good.
::Audio
As with the video, a lot of work was put into making the audio presentation everything that it could possibly be. We're actually given a 5.1 mix and the extra clarity and separation provided by the surround track really helps.
::Special Features
Normally, I do my best to try to document and comment on all of the special features on a disc. Usually this isn't a problem, but on Broken, it's simply impossible. There is just a ton of material here. Alex Ferrari documented everything and anything that went into producing and marketing his film, and he's made a great deal of it available here on this disc. The result is, quite literally, a lesson in guerilla filmmaking.
One thing that I did appreciate about the special features on this disc is that they were broken (no pun intended) up into nice little bite-sized chunks. With nearly 3 hours of material to wade through, this made it very easy for me to split up going through everything over several nights.
::Bottom Line
Broken is an interesting little film and an excellent example of the wide opportunities that are opening up in the world of filmmaking, thanks to more accessible technology. I liked Ferrari's effort here, and although it needs some polish and experience to help it along, I have the feeling that Broken could be turned into a fascinating feature length film - if Ferrari is given the chance. Broken also makes for an excellent resource and lesson for any other aspiring filmmaker out there.
| Movie |  |
3 / 5 |
| Video | |
2.5 / 5 |
| Audio | |
2.5 / 5 |
| Extras | |
4 / 5 |
| Family Friendly | |
0.5 / 5 |
| For only 19 minutes, Broken is fairly violent and decidedly adult in content. Budding filmmakers in the family will certainly want watch all of the special features. | ||
| Overall | |
3 / 5 |
- Robert Wurth, ©2005
::Technical Specs
Studio:
Enigma Factory
Year of Theatrical Release:
N/A
Disc Format:
1 single-sided, Dual Layer
Image Format:
Widescreen
Aspect Ratio:
1.85:1
Region Encoding:
1 (North America)
Sound Format:
Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 (pro logic)
Running Time:
19.5 minutes
Director:
Alex Ferrari
Stars:
Samantha Jane Polay, Paul Gordon, Amber Crawford, Derek Evans
MPAA Rating:
Not Rated
Disc Supplements:
- 6 Audio Commentaries
- 8 Pre-Production featurettes
- 8 Production featurettes
- 8 Post-Production featurettes
- 6 "After the Short" featurettes
