Jason
says: “We’ve all heard (or used) some variation on ‘my art comes from a
dark place’ before; there’s also its close relative ‘suffering for
one’s art’. Not exactly the inspiration you’d expect for a movie named
‘EDDIE: THE SLEEPWALKING CANNIBAL’- which, not surprisingly once you
accept that premise, turns out to be more about other people suffering
for ones art. By proxy.
“At one time a brilliant painter, Lars Olafsson (Thure Lindhardt)
hasn’t produced new work in years, and is now starting a teaching job
at an art school in rural Canada. A recent bequest to the school
requires it to see to the well-being of the benefactor’s nephew, Eddie
(Dylan Smith), a tall, simple mute of a man, and since he and Lars hit
it off, Eddie winds up staying at Lars’s place. It turns out that
Eddie had a sleepwalking issue as a child, which involved attacking and
eating small animals without knowing it, and it returns his first night
in a new house. Except now he’s bigger, the issue escalates… and
when he sees the result, Lars is suddenly painting again.
“The way EDDIE approaches the artistic process is interesting. Many
movies have played with the idea of artists claiming that a lasting
great work is being worth sacrifice, but the merit of the art in the
larger world is seldom the issue here; it’s all what Lars will do or
allow, directly or indirectly, to be the one who creates it.
Writer/director Boris Rodriguez never actually shows completed artwork,
but does a great job of showing how an empty canvas can draw or taunt
an artist so that the audience gets a feel for the forces acting on
Lars, and how it can cause him to respond in terrible ways.
“Really, Lars is a heck of a role, and Thure Lindhardt is pretty much
perfect in it. He seems to shrink and expand along with Lars’s
connection to his art, and even after Lars has enabled monstrous
things, there’s a humility to him that keeps the character quite
appealing – it’s that quality being stripped away that makes Lars seem
his worst. He’s also got a natural, unforced chemistry with Dylan
Smith as the title character. Eddie is interesting on his own, as well
– Smith is expressive without words or much exaggeration in his facial
expressions, and he embraces the man’s childlike nature without seeming
to play an overgrown kid. Then, of course, he changes his whole
performance when Eddie sleepwalks, in a fog but also far more sharp and
decisive.
“For as much as things feel real, they play into a plot that is more
than a bit absurd, and Rodriguez shows a wonderfully twisted since of
humor about it. The mayhem is gross but also played larger-than-life,
and the radio is a great running joke. The complex main characters are
countered by simple, funny supporting ones, particularly Stephen
McHattie as Lars’s agent, Alain Goulem as the ever-optimistic school
administrator, and Paul Braunstein as the local constable. Georgina
Reilly splits the difference as Lars’s love interest, mixing
personality and easy charm with enough substance to play off Lindhardt
very well indeed.
“Rodriguez does a really fine job mixing the movie’s two tones,
building EDDIE so that it just needs the right nudge to go from funny
to serious and back again, getting every point he’s looking to make
across from the first scene. The operatic soundtrack is well chosen,
and he makes good use of the wintry, barren environment without
overdoing it as symbolism.
“There’s a lot of ways that this movie could have been overdone, but
most if not all are avoided, and avoided without feeling like the film
has been neutered in any way. EDDIE has an out-there premise and some
odd humor, but it’s also quite smart and savvy when at its best. 4.5 cats
“Seen 4 August 2012 in Concordia University Cinema de Seve (Fantasia
2012, 35mm).” |
