Upcoming: The Living Wake at the Grand Illusion
In the midst of SIFF 10, it can be easy to forget that there is still more great film out there even beyond the borders of the festival.
One such film is The Living Wake which makes its Seattle premiere at the Grand Illusion on Friday, June 4.
Mike O’Connell stars as K. Roth Binew, genius artist (at least in his own mind, the only place that matters for Mr. Binew), whose philosophy of life is simple. “I drink to bring myself down to the level of the common man. But remember: the common man drinks, so I must drink twice as much!” Jesse Eisenberg is Mills, his very own Boswell, the level-headed foil to his manically overblown friend. O’Connell plays Binew with perfect abandon while Eisenberg’s quiet control helps cement his reputation as a budding cinematic star. The chemistry between leads is believable and keeps the story held together no matter how crazy things get. And things do get crazy.
Egotistical blowhard Binew discovers that he will be dying at the end of the day. What to do? The obvious answer to the question is to get his affairs in order, a mission he accomplishes by swilling Scotch in the back of the bicycle rickshaw on which Mills chauffeurs him around so that he may invite his friends and family to his wake while he’s still on this side of the great divide. Along the way they encounter a number of people nearly as eccentric as he, including a prostitute, a neighbor with whom Binew has been feuding, the childhood nanny Bine
The Living Wake is a great film for a certain type of film fan, the one who appreciates an adventurous approach to movie making. This isn’t “Hollywood quirky” – Binew is barking mad and his adventures on the final day of his life push past ridiculous into total absurdity. Dark humor rules – very dark humor – and there’s nothing like a feel-good ending anywhere in sight. Ridiculousness taken to the edge of extreme is the order of the day in Binew’s world. It’s a thrilling world to visit. Living there might be just a bit too much for most of us to take, but the dying Binew thrives there, very entertainingly so.
Well worth seeing, The Living Wake screens from June 4 through June 10. Director Sol Tyron will be in attendance for screenings from the 4th through the 6th.
(The Sol Tyron produced 2012: Time for Change is also playing locally on June 4th at the Varsity as part of the Seattle Green Festival.)
