By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Kris Elgstrand
Starring: Arabella Bushnell | Brad Dryborough | Ross Smith
Country: canada, united_states
Year: 2014
Running time: 80
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3659764/combined
Chris says: “BEGIN AGAIN, John Carney’s follow-up film to ONCE originally sported the far more on-the-nose title CAN A SONG SAVE YOUR LIFE? when it played the festival circuit. It’s a phrase Carol (Arabella Bushnell), the quietly acerbic lead of SONGS SHE WROTE ABOUT PEOPLE SHE KNOWS would likely scoff at while also reluctantly admitting at least a kernel of truth within it.
“Writer/director Kris Elgstrand’s Vancouver-set film opens with office worker Carol attending a music therapy class. After watching a slew of sad sacks attempt to put their feelings into improvised song lyrics (with mostly unintentionally amusing results), she bluntly decides this is not for her-at least in a public forum, anyway. In the privacy of her own apartment, however, she takes what she’s witnessed to heart, composing hilariously bitter little autobiographical tunes that she records and leaves as voice mails on other people’s phones. Carol directs one to an annoying pill of a neighbor, peppering it with lyrics where she fantasizes about killing the poor woman’s entire family; another song, called ‘Asshole Dave’, is for a man she’s had an unsuccessful fling with.
“Like Carol herself, her compositions are unassumingly droll, deadpan and brimming with caustic wit and brutal, unfiltered honesty; they’re also incredibly catchy in a Nellie McKay-sort-of-way and make a notable impact on their recipients. Predictably, the neighbor’s not amused, but Dave (Brad Dryborough) is so moved that he soon shows up at Carol’s place, guitar at hand, rattling off a punky but apologetic musical reply. In the next scene, we find out Dave’s not only also Carol’s boss, but that he’s also her perfect foil-persistent, hyperactive and oversharing whereas Carol is composed, enigmatic, and withholding (except in her song lyrics). Their contrasts gives the film its spark, but this is not a romantic comedy (although you get the feeling Dave very much wishes it were). Instead, it shifts in unlikely directions, temporarily becoming a road movie (where the talentless Dave haphazardly pursues his rock and roll dreams) before it finds the genuinely talented Carol putting her creative gift to constructive use, eventually achieving catharsis in her art (and doing so completely on her own, vaguely cringe-worthy but personally triumphant terms).
“I’ve seen my share of both quirky Canadian comedies and unconventional musicals and can confidently say that this one is unlike any of them (with respect to either genre). From the opening scene, one immediately picks up on Elgstrand’s unique, delightful sensibility: humorously skewed but never stilted or foreign, whimsical but none too precious, pokerfaced without seeming blank. With her wavy red hair and proclivity towards bold, primary colors in her wardrobe and apartment (Elgstrand and Bushnell are married and actually used their own home as a stand-in for Carol’s place), Bushnell cuts a striking figure, which Elgstrand and his cinematographer only heighten by favoring close-ups and other tightly framed shots (and also by shooting on super 16mm film). The biggest pleasure here, perhaps, comes from how likable Bushnell and Dryborough are, for Carol and Dave easily could’ve been anything but due to their stubborn, eccentric personalities (at least they have that in common). At an economical 80 minutes, SONGS SHE WROTE… hits admirably few wrong notes-even if neither Dave nor Carol always sings on-key. 5 cats
“(SONGS SHE WROTE ABOUT PEOPLE SHE KNOWS screened at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival)”