Flashback

I've read, somewhere, that people rarely listen to DVD commentaries. I don't know why I like listening to them, except that, occasionally they offer insight you don't get from just watching the film. Admittedly, some films have pretty stupid commentary tracks. I'll always point to the awful actor's commentary on T3 (although the director's commentary is usually good).

I just listened to the commentary for Mysterious Skin, after rewatching the film. On the whole, it holds up reasonably well. Some characters don't come out nearly as well the second time around. Eric's character (he's Neil's flamboyant friend) still seems out of place for midwestern Kansas. The accents still sound more Southern than flat midwestern. Brian's mom is too much like a mom in a cereal commercial. Even Brady Corbet's scenes at the gripping end scene don't quite ring right.

Although it's not as good as I remember, it does resonate as the story of two lost boys, one who's blotted out the memory of the past, and the other trying to relive the memories, and that their meetings is a kind of unsatisfying catharsis for the two of them. It's the first time Neil realizes what was a magical period in his life was something that Brian built a fictional castle in the sand in his mind to explain.

The commentary, as might be expected, involves a lot of praising. In particular, Brady Corbet (who, I now know, pronounces his last name like sorbet, not like Olga Korbut), gushes effusively over the impact of them film. I will say that actors often have to dig deep emotionally to do a role, and therefore, are more out in the open about their emotions than most people. The difficult scenes that Brady and Joe (as he's referred to in the commentary, as opposed to his written name as Joseph Gordon-Levitt) created an emotional bond that two guys generally never get to because they aren't about exploring their emotions in that way.

I hadn't realize that the song that ends the film was by Sigur Ros. It just goes to show you how much indie music that actors listen to. I've known about Sigur Ros for a while, when my friend, Phil introduced me to them a few years ago. I was even at one of their concerts way back when, shortly after 9/11 (about a month later), when travel to the US was probably a pain for this Icelandic band.

I remember watching a special on Lord of the Rings, and the characters that play Merry and Pippin (Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan) were at a record store, and one was recommending Sigur Ros to the other.

This is a far different film that Gregg Araki normally directs. His early films were angry pieces about living with HIV (e.g., The Living End) or the nihilistic, The Doom Generation. Araki adapted Scott Heim's novel for the big screen.

As usual, you listen to how the film was shot out of order, which is very common for a film. Surprisingly, you also discover that Joe had very few lines, which, once you think about it, he does have extremely few lines. Or that the coach only appears in about ten minutes of the film, or Elisabeth Shue (mentioned as Lisa) also has few scenes. Or that much of the time, the film is done in POV (point of view) framing, i.e., with the actor looking directly into the camera, rather than looking to another actor.

Gregg is rather talky throughout the commentary. Brady is gushing, and Joe is a bit laid back.

There are scenes in the film that are generally difficult for the young actors, since the topic is, after all, about sexual child abuse, and the young actors are really young. I feel the guy who played young Brady was more realistic than young Neil who seemed way too much the child actor. So much so that it was mildly grating. There's no doubting the kid has some talent, but one learns a bit of restraint as one gets older. The funny thing is that Joe also acted since he was really young, so he can, to some degree, relate to the young kids acting in the film.

I had put the film as one of the best of this year, up their with 3-iron. I'll probably have to knock that down a peg, but for those watching it for the first time, Araki can pack a punch. In the past, those punches have seem gratuitous, but here, it feels more appropriate. It can distract one from noticing the quality of the film as a whole.

As a commentary track, it's one of the better ones I've heard. It's not quite at the level of Ocean's 11, where you get to hear directorial decisions, which is what I often like about the commentary. Usually, if they don't tell you about creative decisions (rare), at least, they can tell you about the conditions that the film was made (often, horrible).

Gee, now it's 6:15. This is the problem when you sleep at 10, then wake up at 1 AM.