Marina Antunes [Celluloid 08.23.13] drama



Though I wasn't completely taken with Tim Sutton's debut Pavilion (review), I did love the director's approach to slice-of-life storytelling and his bold choice to play fast and loose with narrative storytelling. Pavilion worked despite a central story but from the looks of Sutton's follow-up, Sutton may be moving a little closer to a central narrative.

Made with a grant from the Venice Biennale Cinema College, Memphis stars real life R&B singer-songwriter Willis Earl Beal as a musician living in Memphis who is "surrounded by beautiful women, legendary musicians, a stone-cold-hustler, a righteous preacher, and a wolfpack of kids." The story, which appears to unfold in a documentary-like fashion, seems mostly focused on Beal as he works through his music and life in general but the trailer also suggests that Sutton's wondering camera is also still present. That wondering camera is one of the things that made Pavilion so successful but I hope that there is more of a balance between it and Beal's story.


Memphis is scheduled to play the Venice Film Festival later this month.



Via The Dissolve

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