Last Exit Productions
Web:
http://lastexitproductions.dk
No
right Turns opens with a dreamlike landscape. There is an old home surrounded by
mist and lit by an abundance of candles. Monella sits alone in a large bath;
she spins the chamber of a pistol and shots time and time again. The pace of
the scene is leisurely, so every time the chamber turns and you hear a click
you cringe – you want to look away but you can’t. It is as close as you can get to a perfect
scene, creating a fever pitch of tension and then rolling into the films
opening credits which are accompanied by music which is reminiscent of a circus
or sideshow. This combination of a strange dreamlike quality, even a dark
fairytale mixed with bleak reality is what marks No Right Turn throughout.
No
Right Turn is the second film from Danish filmmaker David Noel Bourke who made
Last Exit. It might be a low budget film made on the streets of Copenhagen but
it doesn’t look it. The cinematography is superb, the acting is professional
and credible and the plot impressive. What I especially like is the way in
which the film takes it time developing a range of truly eccentric and unusual characters
and then slowly intertwines them together to offer an intriguing tale. All of
the characters are quirky and a little weird, but they are kept believable so
at no time does the film lose authenticity.
No Right Turn seems to mix Film Noir with a cult sensibility matching a
dark sense of humour to an incredible music score.
Johnny
is a coke junkie who has snorted so much that his septum is damaged and his
nose is constantly in pain. He is becoming increasing greedy and is unhappy
being a drug courier delivering drugs via pizza boxes; it is through his
deliveries we meet a lot of the major characters. The combination of drugs and
alcohol are making him delusional and paranoid and he becomes convinced his big
break will come if he buys Pedro’s sleazy knockshop. However, there is a hitch, he is unsure of
his future as he thinks his wife is having an affair.
His
wife Nina is an ex-porn star who has, in her words, has had sex with everything
and anything. She is seriously jaded and manipulative. She is sick of her
husband’s drunken excesses and low career options and develops a close
friendship (and a bit more) with the emotionally distraught Monella. Nina has
decided to rob her husband and make a new life and brings Monella in on the
plan. As Johnny spirals out of control, their lives begin to intertwine and we
know a disaster is in store.
From
the very moment the film opens the suspense begins and it continues right to
the very end. This process of manipulating tension makes this a superb film
which is both visually artistic and yet filled with grit and realism. From the
strange wings Monella finds in the snow to Johnny using meat on a string under
his nose to alleviate the pain caused by too many drugs, the bizarre imagery
creates a powerful impression. The mixture of affection and trust, such as
between Monella and Nina, is counterbalanced with the life Nina leads include a
near rape and the brutality of her husband. The world of No Right Turn is one
of opposites, grit, pain and violence, trust and affection, dreams and visions
and gritty street life. It is quite an experience.
This
is a film which will keep you enthralled right to the very end and really
embodies what indie filmmaking should be.
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This
review will appear in Volume 2 No.5
(2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.
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