By Jacob Harrison

Wednesday, 14 August, Event Cinema Bondi Junction – I’m not entirely sold on auteur theory, sorry JL and FT. For good or for ill, it takes a village to make a film. The writer needs to shape a script that can be translated and transferred from the page to the screen. The actors have to get inside the skins of their characters, giving them flesh. The Director of photography has to be a master technician and artisan in order to deliver the desired effect on screen. Sound design is essential in establishing the tone of the film, eliciting through sound the subconscious emotions that existed before language. The editor uses the combination of images to create meaning, writing visual poetry that makes cinema unique as an art form. Without the producer, the whole thing is a theoretical exercise. It’s the director’s prerogative to wrangle these folks together to make a singular, unified product, putting their own unique stamp on it ideally. However, there are certain films that you have to say, belong to the director – Shane Carruth’s Upstream Color is one of those films.

I was a massive fan of Carruth’s debut film Primer (by the way, you need to see Primer), so when I heard Popcorn Taxi was presenting Upstream Color + Q&A with Shane Carruth, what else could have I done? Carruth not only directed, he wrote the script, he acted, edited, produced, handled distribution, composed the original music and operated the camera; not only did he do all this, he also did a great job – at the lot.

‘Is it because you’re the world’s biggest cheapskate, or is it because you’re the world’s biggest control freak?’ Oscar, the host of the night, asked the disembodied voice of Shane Carruth, on the line from Paris.

Shane Carruth. Courtesy of nolanfans.com

‘Probably both,’ laughed Carruth, ‘It started off as a necessity and then, I have to admit it, it’s become something else. For a lot of it, it’s just really practical, for example when I’m thinking about who am I going to get to as the composer of the film? Well I don’t really know any composers and we didn’t really have the money to hire one anyway. While I was in the writing process I was composing music that I thought of as the score, so to be honest, if I had of hired someone to do that all I would have done is probably driven them mad, trying to get them to write music I already had in  my head or already written. It’s just a weird situation, and that translates across all departments. I dunno’, it feels easier just to do it yourself instead of try explain it, but that can be a very negative thing for everyone else in the production, because I become a log jam for the process. At this point I’m just going to own up to being a control freak, but I do think there is something earnest in an author being involved so intimately with all of the tools you can use in film making. I know I enjoy it as an audience member because it’s fun being challenged or asked to take something apart, but I want to know that once I do that there’s something underneath it, that there’s some meaning, and I think that’s more likely with a singular voice. You’re not going to find out that something you thought was interesting and challenging, once I take it apart that it was just something introduced by the second guy that did a re-write and it’s an artefact now that isn’t really meaningful in any way to the end result. That’s my long winded answer.’

‘When you’re putting it together, is there a particular role you feel most comfortable in?’

Promo Poster. Courtesy of indiewire.com

‘At this point I don’t know how to take them apart. I feel really strongly that writing and directing are the same thing, or at least they should be if film is going to find its proper form and not be a book that you can watch… I think there needs to be a more intimate relationship between writer and director, and if that means it has to be the same person I think that’s a very good thing… I couldn’t write something I didn’t direct or direct something I didn’t write… it’s just too intimate to separate.’

Upstream Color is a bizarrely beautiful film, with a story told in an unconventional way. Carruth is a skilled editor; he tells the story poetically through imagery, each shot is a thought or an idea weaved together with the next, there’s minimal dialogue and no direct exposition, which made me feel happy… I won’t go in to much detail (do yourself a favour and go see this with as limited information as you can, but if you must), suffice to say Kris, played by Amy Seimetz ( Wristcutters: A Love Story, Tiny Furniture), the female protagonist has a pretty terrible incident happen to her early on that make her question who she is, who she was, and what she can be moving in to the future. 

Carruth’s performance is good, but Amy Seimetz who plays Kris is superb. There is very minimal dialogue throughout the film, but the onscreen chemistry between the two is dynamic. Seimetz is also a director (Sun Don’t Shine), and it was through watching her films that Carruth thought she would be great in the role; she clearly understood narrative and character development. After seeing her audition, he was sold.

The acoustic ‘sweet spot’ of a pig farm. Courtesy nybooks.com

This is one of the most beautiful pieces of screen imagery I have seen in a long time. The colours leak on to the screen like an inky paint brush in clean water. The incredibly narrow depth of field used in many of the shots gives the impression of wandering through a dreamscape.

When asked about influential film makers or films, Carruth said ‘I don’t have anything esoteric, it’s basically the same film makers that everyone recognises as having a strong voice. I respond to everything that P.T. Anderson makes. I’m very influenced by Soderbergh, and Winterbottom, I revisit a lot of his films, they’re just so strong. I’m trying to think if there’s anything special, but it’s just the same ones that every film school geek likes!’

The sound is eerily beautiful, a collection of found sound, synthesisers and base rumbles reinforce the inner turmoil of the two protagonists as they try and make sense of themselves and the reality they have come to know. Also, I can’t stand pigs and the horrible noises they make, but this film won me over.

Babe 3: Pig in existential crisis. Courtesy hellohelicopter.livejournal.com.

Carruth spoke about the project he is writing now, called The Modern Ocean. Set in exotic ports or at sea, The Modern Ocean is a romantic tragedy about the rivalry between small shipping companies that design and sell shipping routes for various commodities, dodging pirates, privateers, terrorists and weather events. The Modern Ocean will be a break away from Primer and Upstream; a relatively straight adventure without ‘fantastical elements’ and a decent sized budget. I want to go to that.

Towards the end there was a question from the audience, ‘I know how this question is going to sound before I ask it, but please don’t think I’m that guy. Both Primer and Upstream Color are very much boxed in the realm of science fiction, so I’m genuinely interested to know if you have encountered a lot of fan fiction generated by either project, and particularly any cosplayers?’

‘Wow that would really be something! No I haven’t, no no, wait oh no I haven’t, but I have seen poster made for both films.’

As I left the cinema, the modern gentleman who asked the question handed my friend one of these:

Courtesy http://brucegreen.org/uccc/

Perhaps my next adventure in Screen Culture? Well, perhaps one of – there is so much going on in the coming weeks and months under the umbrella I label as Screen Culture. With the Sydney Underground Film Festival, The Sydney Fringe Festival and the inaugural Queer Screen Film Festival all creeping closer, Stay Tuned for further updates.

Related Articles:

http://brucegreen.org/uccc/ – Upstream Colour Cosplay Club.

http://jordanandeddie.wordpress.com/2013/08/14/opinion-piece-steven-soderbergh-a-forgettable-career/ – Critique of Soderbergh.

http://www.popcorntaxi.com.au/2013/07/events/upstream-color-qa-with-director-shane-carruth-live-from-paris/ – Official Popcorn Taxi.