After all the hype, last night's MIFF opening night film was finally revealed as 2:37, which by that stage was no real surprise, as it had become the movie that was almost everybody's front runner.
The debut feature from 19 year old Adelaide director Murali K Thalluri, 2:37 is a derivative ensemble teen drama that's three parts Gus Van Sant's Elephant to one part Gregg Araki's Totally F***ed Up. It replaces Van Sant's central high school massacre with an Araki-esque teenage suicide, complete with numerous black-and-white interviews with the key protaganists interspersed among the key scenes.
Elements such as tracking shots, temporal displacement, soundtrack and cinematography were copied almost verbatim from Van Sant's film.
Awkward, earnest dialogue, coupled with inconsistent performances from the amateur cast, ensured that the majority of the film's plot 'twists' were telegraphed far too soon. Its more intense moments - including a confronting rape scene that some audience members clearly wished they had been warned about, so that they could make up their minds whether or not this was the sort of film they would have chosen to see - were overplayed.
While the inexperienced young director deserves kudos for financing his debut feature totally independently, the only merit in this unoriginal film - which was so derivative that it bordered on plagiarism - lies in the fact that it was made at all.
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