GUNS ON THE CLACKAMAS

GUNS ON THE CLACKAMAS

Written and directed by Bill Plympton, best known for his award-winning animated shorts (check out www.plymptoons.com for more information). This is only the second live action film that Plympton has made, his first being J LYLE (the lead character from that film also has a small role here). On the strength of this, it would be great if he one day found the time and patience to make some more ...

Upon a black screen, the white text introduction sets the simple setting: "In the spring of 1991, Producer/Genius Halton P Jeffers (Ed Townley) commenced shooting on his magnum opus "Guns On The Clackamas". I was privileged to be invited to chronicle this momentous event. And what you are about to see is my audio-visual journal of the making of this historic film". Signed off by Nigel Nado (Keith Scales).

We then meet Nigel, credited as director of this spoof documentary, traipsing through a field towards the shoot of the soon-to-be-ill-fated "Guns". Speaking in an affected David Attenborough-style English accent and brandishing a written invitation from Jeffers, it's not long before Nigel is turned away from the shoot by a burly security guard. That's okay, Nigel reasons after some desperate attempts at getting past the guard, he prefers to work without the co-operation of the filmmakers anyway.

Nigel then takes us back through a brief history of Jeffers' rise in cult filmmaking, taking in clips from early films such as "Frog Cowboys" and "Vampire Cowboys". Director Gus Van Sant even turns up to confess the influence Jeffers had on his own films, DRUGSTORE COWBOY and EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES.

As the film progresses we meet crew members such as hard-drinking director James X (Michael Thomas Parks) who's excited to be working on "Guns" after cutting his teeth on arty pornos such as "Orifice" and "Follicle", and sleazy executive producer Sol Kaplan (Danny Bruno).

Ivy (Janice Bangs) works on the production side and keeps this unruly pairing above on the right side of political correctness. Less concerned with taste though is Bavarian financier Horst (William Tate). It's because of Horst that big-titted Bambee Starr (Crystal Laws Green) is hired to play the lead role of Helen, despite having the worst stammer imaginable. It's also because of Horst that the filmmakers are forced to turn the film into a West End musical midway through shooting ...

When the musical idea doesn't pan out, Horst leaves the production and the crew turn to the church for financing. Clearly, this steers the film in a new direction once more. Although, the church are swift to point out how they disapproved of the photographs that emerged depicting Jeffers in compromising positions with his dog Peppy.

Then auditions are held to find a replacement for the role of Helen. Enter Selena Randall (Britton Chapman), who looks nothing like her predecessor. Without the budget to reshoot earlier scenes, the filmmakers decide to edit footage of both actresses together and hope for the best ...

These are just the first of many problems that the "Guns" production faces, with the crew imploding on several occasions as rickety sets begin to fall apart and - worse still - cast members begin to drop like flies.

Nado's camera catches the action in unflinching manner, interspersed with clips from a film that risks being unmade rather than made, and many amusing interviews into the camera from increasingly flustered cast and crew members.

Fast-moving and filled with gags aplenty, this is a mockumentary of non-stop ideas and energy. Performances are natural and laid-back while the camera rarely stays still as this snappily edited farce races through it's enjoyable 80 minute running time.

Although this results in events feeling somewhat disjointed during the first third, the brains behind this film come to the fore in the final hour when we witness the little character quirks explode during the latter half's more exaggerated scenes, cleverly revealing just why everything from the first half of the film has acted merely as a set-up for bigger punchlines to come.

The film even offers a few last-minute laughs in the form of mock cast auditions peppered throughout the closing titles.

Stylistically, Plympton's film remains true to it's documentary look with handheld cameras and fast editing, taking us through various clips, interviews and archive footage as the travesty that is "Guns" is gradually pieced together.

The clips from the fake film itself are frequently hilarious, blighted with a terrible script that has been cursed by the hands of far too many writers. Acting is deliberately horrible during these scenes, music is overblown and later attempts to disguise dead actors as live ones are truly funny.

What's particularly delicious about the film from a cinephile's perspective is Plympton's love of Hollywood's golden era, and how it influences even the most minor details in almost every scene of GUNS ON THE CLACKAMAS: the star dying during production and being replaced by a lookalike stand-in (Jean Harlow); the walking paradox of a reclusive publicist (Howard Hawks); day-for-night mishaps (Ed Wood); short leads standing on a box to measure up to their leading lady for romantic scenes (Alan Ladd); scandalous stories unearthed against the cast (Kenneth Anger); backgrounds in pornography (Joan Crawford); the coven of writers pulling against each other (many studio pictures of the 1930s and 1940s). And that's just a few examples of what is on offer, in what is a stunning succession of one inspired homage after another.

Plympton has suggested that he's unlikely to write and direct another live action film as he finds the process too taxing. That's a real shame as GUNS is a warm, funny and fiercely intelligent film that showcases it's maker's adoration for the magic of filmmaking while entertaining wildly by way of fantastic sight gags, a sharp script and a sublime array of compellingly absurd characters.

The film is presented in non-anamorphic 1.78:1. Images are reasonably bright and boast strong colours, while grain is evident throughout. It's not the sharpest or cleanest of presentations by any stretch, but is oddly in keeping with the documentary feel of events. The mockumentary footage is shot on 16mm while the "film clips" are shot on 35mm, so obviously the visual quality differs throughout playback.

English audio is presented in 2.0 and does it's job without cause for either concern or yahoos.

The disc opens with a minimalist static main menu page. From there, a static two-page scene-selection menu allows access to the main feature via 14 chapters.

Extras begin with an entertaining and informative commentary track from Plympton. Without the aid of a moderator or fellow crewmembers to bounce off (aside from co-star Jonny Fido who wanders briefly into the track an hour through proceedings), he does a commendable job of keeping the proverbial kettle boiling with only a few pregnant pauses to speak of.

Naturally, Plympton cites THIS IS SPINAL TAP as a major influence, along with James McBride's criminally under-appreciated DAVID HOLZMAN'S DIARY. Elsewhere, Plympton speaks with a refreshing frankness about his own film's financial shortcomings (the film cost $2000,000.00), how his previous failures affected him and the tribulations he encountered during the lengthy production.

Other fun titbits include Plympton pointing out his own cameo appearances both onscreen and verbally, his amusingly lame explanation of the film's title, and the revelation that Peter Jackson's BRAINDEAD is one of Plympton's "all time classic films".

A minor quibble would be that the commentary track is slightly out of synch, running a few seconds ahead of images presenting themselves on the screen.

Next up is a 5-minute clip from regional news programme "Portland Today" from channel AMNW, celebrating Plympton's film. Interspersed with a couple of brief scenes from the film, this features interviews with Plympton (revealing how his animated shorts attracted the interest of Disney - who wanted him to design the genie for ALADDIN) and "local actress" Janice Bangs.

Plympton comes across as a likeably goofy, awkward sort who appears almost bemused by the interest his undeniable talents garner.

"Bill At IFP" is a briskly edited video diary of the great man acting typically gracious at a film festival. It's a nice addition, but is all too fleeting at a mere 90-odd seconds in length.

Eleven production stills follow, each of which is accompanied by typed explanatory text.

Finally, there is a text duck joke with four different punchlines - just keep hitting the 'Play' button to reveal each one. It sounds weird, but makes sense when you've seen the film (one character pops her clogs midway through telling the joke ...).

GUNS is a frequently funny, extremely natural and enjoyable film. It's daft without ever being too slapstick, brisk while never appearing as trite. It's entertaining and definitely worthy of an evening's viewing, so long as you can get along with its lo-fi nature.

The film is supported ably here by the unfussy but efficient disc from Microcinema DVD.

If you're tired of the same old comedies or sorely in need of a decent mockumentary, having sat through THIS IS SPINAL TAP one too many times, GUNS ON THE CLACKAMAS should fit the bill nicely.

Review by Stuart Willis


 
Released by Microcinema DVD
Region 1 - NTSC
Not Rated
Extras :
see main review
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