police beat Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It often feels like forever-and-a-day between the time I see a film at a fest, and when it finally sees light of day in a theatrical or DVD release. Such is the case with Police Beat, directed by Robinson Devor and written by Charles Mudede (the same team who just this year brought us an eye-opening look at the sub-culture of people who have sexual relations with animals in the documentary Zoo).

Police Beat was released yesterday on DVD, with Home Vision/ Image Entertainment handling distrib, and can be purchased through the Image Entertainment website (or, if you're local to Seattle, at Scarecrow Video or Broadway Market Video). The film, scripted by Mudede and based off his column of the same name which he writes for Seattle's alterna-weekly, The Stranger, follows an immigrant bike cop around scenic Seattle as he deals with one after another of a series of bizarre crimes (regular readers of Mudede's column will know that, as with many things in life, you just can't make up anything that would be better than the craziness cops deal with on a daily basis) while dealing with the possible break-up of his relationship with his girlfriend, who's gone off on a camping trip with a male "friend."

The film, though relatively low-budget, is full of gorgeous painterly shots of Seattle in the summertime (thanks to DP Sean Kirby, who shot in 35mm scope) and if you live in Seattle or have spent any time there, it's fun to see all the places you hang out in up there on the screen in all that technicolor glory. It also has the distinction of being the sixth film co-produced by Seattle not-for-profit Northwest Film Forum, which does some truly fantastic work supporting indie film and independent filmmakers.

It's great to see this little film getting some distribution at last; it had strong reviews overall, but for a while there I didn't think it would get out there for more people to see it. It's always nice to see the hard work of independent filmmakers pay off, at least a little, and I hope the film will get some strong support in Seattle, where the film was shot in over 100 locations with hundreds of locals. Even if you don't live in Seattle, Police Beat is a good film for indie film fans to see and support.

My pick of new indies out on DVD this week (July 10) is Japanese filmmaker Shunji Iwai's Hana and Alice. The bare bones of the plot are bare indeed: two teenage girls who have been lifelong friends find a boy coming between them. As with all such adolescent dramas, though, it's the characters that separate the wheat from the chaff. I can't put it better than this review by luna6: "This film is packed with moments that will stay permanently etched in your mind." True enough; it's been three years since I've seen it and I can still recall the gorgeous visuals and the warm, very recognizably human interplay, both dramatic and humorous, between the three teens coming of age. Look for the DVD from Homevision.

Another notable release this week is Danish director Susanne Bier's After the Wedding, about a man coming to grips with family issues after an unexpected invitation to a wedding. Cinematical's Jeffrey M. Anderson called it "fairly middlebrow and melodramatic," though he had kind words for the "unique and charismatic star Mads Mikkelsen." (Jeffrey really nailed down why this extraordinary actor is so good.) Other critics rated the film much higher; Rotten Tomatoes certified reviews as 86% positive. IFC is the distributor.

When Robinson Devor's Police Beat played at the Seattle film festival in 2005, Cinematical's Kim Voynar wrote that it "isn't your typical cop movie, not by a long shot. There are no prolonged gun battles, no drawn out car chases ... It's a story about lovesickness, and jealousy .. played out, almost distantly and distractedly, amidst a cacophony of crime scenes." Kim's conclusion? "Judging Police Beat on its own merits, though, I have to say that overall I enjoyed the film. I like it when a director has the chutzpah to try something different." Devor went on to make the controversial documentary Zoo. Police Beat hits DVD this week, courtesy of Homevision.