Monsters.

MONSTERS.: when it’s time to move on

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MONSTERS.

In the ambitious and innovative Monsters., writer-director Marius Olteanu unspools his story one chapter at a time. First we follow Dana (Judith State), a morose woman whose behavior is bewildering her cab driver – and the audience. In the second chapter, we meet two men, one of them Arthur (Christian Popa), and try to figure out the connection to the first chapter. The third and final chapter weaves the stories together into a romantic tragedy. (And, yes, there is a period in the film’s title.)

[MILD SPOILER: The movie is about a couple in love who want to have a conventional marriage, but whose relationship cannot succeed in that form.]

Monsters. is Olteanu’s feature film debut. Stylistically, Monsters. is typical of Romanian Slow Cinema, long takes and all, and it depicts a 24-hour story in under two hours.

Olteanu is an ambitious and fearless filmmaker. The beginning and most of Monsters. is in an unfamiliar, vertical aspect ratio; right away, we know that we’re watching something different. And, just when we’ve settled in, Olteanu CHANGES the aspect ratio to make points about the content. This dynamic aspect ratio and the film’s structure are self-conscious, but it’s clear that Oltenau is aspirational and innovative. I’m looking forward to what he has in store for us next.

Both lead actors are very good. State is up to the challenge of playing a sad character who is always aggrieved without becoming tiresome. Serban Pavlu is especially excellent as an off-puttingly meticulous Grindr hookup.

Frameline hosts the North American premiere of Monsters..

FRAMELINE: New Directors

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Marius Olteanu’s MONSTERS.

Frameline, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, is underway and showcasing a spate of promising new filmmakers.

Romanian writer-director Marius Olteanu‘s innovative drama Monsters., may be Frameline’s most cinematically ambitious film. A dynamic aspect ratio and a figure-it-out-yourself story structure make it clear that Oltenau is an aspirational filmmaker.

Leon Le‘s groundbreaking romance Song Lang takes us into the vivid world of cải lương, the Vietnamese folk opera, for an operatic love story. More than just “the Vietnamese Brokeback Mountain“.

Leon Le’s SONG LANG

The first feature for Spanish director Arantxa Echevarria, Carmen y Lola, is a sexual coming of age story set among urban Romani people in contemporary Spain.

Making Montgomery Clift, the first feature-length documentary for Robert Anderson Clift and Hilary Demmon, is an unexpectedly insightful and nuanced probe into the life of Clift’s uncle, the movie star Montgomery Clift. Demmon also masterfully edited the film.

Frameline’s closing night film, the emotionally powerful documentary, Gay Chorus Deep South, is the first film for director David Charles Rodrigues. It tracks the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus concert tour through the Deep South in the aftermath of the Trump election.

Through the Windows, the first feature for directors Petey Barma and Bret “Brook” Parker, tells the story of the famed bar Twin Peaks – the first San Francisco gay bar set up to let patrons and passers-by obdsrve each other directly. And, playing before Through the Windows, the documentary short Dressing Up Like Mrs. Doubtfire, about movie depictions of cross-dressing and the impact of the Robin Williams performance, is one of several shorts by director Will Zang, and could be developed into a future feature.

MAKING MONTGOMERY CLIFT, directed by Robert Anderson Clift and Hilary Demmon