eve of understanding Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Indies on DVD: 'Living and the Dead,' 'Eve of Understanding,' 'Kite Runner'
Filed under: Drama », Independent », New on DVD », Home Entertainment », Cinematical Indie »
The stars must have aligned in a whole new way in the DVD universe, because we have an exceptional number of interesting indie release this week. My top pick is Simon Rumley's The Living and the Dead, which my colleague Scott Weinberg described as "bizarre, chilling and strangely hypnotic." As he wrote in his review, it "isn't a 'horror movie' in the most traditional sense, but is a thoroughly disturbing experience all the same. And by 'disturbing,' I mean: Really twisted, unique and fascinating to puzzle through." The DVD from TLA Releasing includes a "making of" feature, trailers and a stills gallery.Eve of Understanding stars Rebecca Lowman as Donna, a woman who embarks on a road trip to deliver notes and knick-knacks to a motley crew of people at the behest of her recently-deceased mother. When she saw it at AFI Dallas last year, Cinematical's Kim Voynar wrote that first-time director Alyson Shelton "largely succeeds in what she's trying to get across, largely because Lowman's strong performance keeps us interested in Donna and what happens to her even in the film's weaker spots." The DVD from Vanguard Cinema includes two "featurettes," photo gallery and "director's statement."
AFI Dallas Review: Eve of Understanding
Filed under: Drama », Independent », Theatrical Reviews », Festival Reports », Cinematical Indie », AFI Dallas »
Donna (Rebecca Lowman) has never had what you might call a close relationship with her mother, Eve, so it's a bit of a shock for Donna when her mother posthumously sends her on a mission. Eve has committed suicide in the wake of a cancer diagnosis, and she has some unfinished business for her oldest daughter to take care of for her: a laundry list of notes and knick-knacks that Donna is supposed to take on a road trip to deliver to their intended recipients. This begins Eve of Understanding, which recently won a Special Jury Prize at AFI Dallas.
Although she wasn't close to her mother, Donna feels obliged to respect Eve's last wishes, and so she embarks on her road trip solo ("Don't take your sister or your loser boyfriend," Eve admonishes in her note to Donna), hoping to discover along the way just why Eve sent her on this mission. She says good-bye to her oddball religious-nut sister Lisa (Jennifer Harlow), who apparently spends all her free time praying for people so as not to have to improve her own life, makes a narrow escape from the absuive loser boyfriend, and heads off on a solo road trip in which she will uncover secrets about Eve's past -- and her own -- all while deciding whether to make another stab at going sober.
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