Movie Info. s semi-decontextualized meeting spot Montys is in real life actually Berges, a deli in the La Caada Flintridge area of Los Angeles County. We didnt want anything to seem like it was supposed to speak to some general moral or lesson, [but to] just let the mood and the vibe point in those directions instead we couldve very easily ruined the film with just a few lines of dialogue, I think, and Eric was very commandeering about us not doing that.. My writing partner Eric Berger was very, very keen on being as cryptic and removed as possible from mentioning what is essentially the basic premise of the film, explained Taormina, whos from Long Island and based in Los Angeles, during a zoom call that also included the films producer/first assistant director David Croley Broyles and its cinematographer Carson Lund. Now, as a memory growing more distant every day, all thats left is the dreamlike impressions of these places Ive loved so much and then abandoned. He has only slightly better results in baseball. A puzzling but artful look at teenage alienation. Following a nocturnal tour of the now much-less-populated location (in a scene that for me betrays Lunds appreciation of movies by landscape-minded film artists like James Benning and Peter Hutton), were on the wrong side of the tracks, where the films atmosphere, mood, and suggested cultural signifiers all land in a much darker and frankly lower-class place than before (this change perhaps betraying some of Taorminas own stated influences for, and the films of David Lynchboth of which seem to undergo serious temporal shifts as nightfall commences). but that said, it doesn't really matter. So to both make and spruce up the required disclosure, let me say that I not only consider Carson Lund a close friend, but that I also consider myself a dedicated fanof. Director: Tyler Taormina Then the something-weird happens and "Ham on Rye" turns its attention to the teenagers who weren't at the dance: Haley, who left in a pique of embarrassment after being passed over by a boy . A lot of that was captured in Sylmar.. But what once had to burn or perish can now simply vanish between clicks, and without even the slightest hint of ceremony. works to give young adulthood some of its ceremony back. this is going to be fun to shootits like shooting a bunch of still lifes, , he continued. The post-facto rationalizations they concoct for their hostility, however, involve his inability to play sports and his being viscerally revolted by cruelty to animals, the latter being one of the favorite past-times of neighborhood men and boys alike. One passage that always reminds me of Nietzsche was from factotum ". She is, in fact, a victim of her husband's brutality as well. Whats established instead are countless signifiers of a semi-contemporary American upbringing: from overarching, stuff like scenes of characters preparing for something like a prom (three girls in frilly dresses being photographed by their overexcited parents, see above), and then carpooling there (the parents now waving at the door like the first day of school, another ceremony) to smaller details seen in briefer shots like the decor of a longhair musicians car (beads on the rear view, bandana on the passenger seat), or a particularly rebellious-looking kid scraping a stick against a fence (which in this context cant help but recall, , ur-text of the American coming-of-age storya narrative lineage that, Its a day were going to remember for the rest of our lives, says the opening dialogue, and the generic phrasing blurs certain lines to build upon the very particular biorhythmic point where Taorminas movie takes place: A kid who says that might be talking about their prom, or about having sex, or about moving out, or maybe even about school graduation, among other possibilitiesbut no matter what, theyre probably talking about something meant to happen in the period that weve come to calling. 1985. On the spectacularly well-chosen soundtrack, sixties bubblegum pop sits alongside electronic drones and the inspired reclamation of German New Age flautist Deuters shimmery, folk-horror melodies. Twayne Publishers, New York, 1997. p. 36, 39, 40. Where are the writers and directors who are thinking of beginning things?! just finished ham on rye and was curious to hear some analysis/opinion on the abrupt ending with hank playing . With his first feature, the director and co-writer Tyler Taormina delivers something at first familiar and then increasingly but never ostentatiously strange. Of course the same is true of books, films, and everything gathered under the sunit all goes eventually. There's a girl called Haley who features more than most of the other characters, but mostly it just shows all the different kids. A hauntingly. 1985. [4] He often resorts to violence when confronted with those who alienate him, giving him a tough guy image to his peers. special is how dutifully it avoids the lack of depth that usually accompanies utilizing deliberately generic settings. The film premieres at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival this week, and the official site is here. Cinematic didacticism has given way to filmmakers content to raise questions they wont or cant answer. He locks himself away inside himself to protect himself from the expected loathing from others never allowing himself hope that someone would love and under him. You might even feel the anticipatory dread of the familiar: oh no, not another prom movie tenderly observed, with just enough acne-ridden raunch to give a little edge to its otherwise placid, complacent lament for childhoods passing not again. Charles Bukowski (16 August 1920 - 9 March 1994) was a German born American poet, novelist and short story writer. Where Kaufman jams his long sweeping camera shots and claustrophobic car journey with anxious forced repartee, Taormina pushes his lens uncomfortably close for extended runs with little dialogue. I dont get it. First published in 1982, Ham on Rye is Bukowski's fourth novel, and now makes its first UK appearance under the auspices of Scotland's canny independent press, Rebel Inc. Tracing the youth and . Calonne, David Stephen. Ham on rye ending explained - international conference on. The one character that carries over from the pre-ceremony segments to the post- is Haley, played by the same Haley Bodell of Suburban Legends, whose only acting credits to date are for Taormina. Probably more than anything else, Ham on Rye works to give young adulthood some of its ceremony back. But with all these signifiers, as well as the title, which sends us back to Charles Bukowskis coming-of-age memoir of the same name, which itself refers to The Catcher in the Rye, pretty soon the references multiply to the point you have to give in and call Ham on Rye its own, pretty unique thing. Its such a music-driven filmwere all musiciansand one of the things we did talk about a lot in preparation, especially for the Montys party sequence, was 80s music videos, Lund mentioned later. Bukowski keeps his descriptions of his hometown grounded in reality, paying more attention to the people that make up Los Angeles than to the city itself. Ham on Rye makes no such assurances which of course makes it more honest, even if its oblique lessons will be heard by a tiny, tiny fraction of the number who navigated adolescence by the. Mailboxes were very hard to find. They literally haunt my dreams.. The second half is darker and lonelier, following those left behind, especially Haley (Haley Bodell), who ran from the diner when her humiliation became too great and is now, like all her fellow rejects, apparently condemned never to escape this world of duck ponds, wisteria-draped driveways, and doorbells that are never answered. Twayne Publishers, New York, 1997. p. 36, 42, 43. Same goes for something that Taormina said to, in early 2019, which seems way too key not to reproduce here: The script was born through that feeling of nervous confrontation to [rituals] and then it bloomed into What happens to those who dont get selected?,, Yet by placing its emphasis on the shared cultural detritus of American teenagerdom, like all those tokens of first cars and first kisses seen in the loving insert shots that dominate the first halfrather than underlining its more specific themes or subtexts (which Broyles, Lund, and Taormina say were pared back even further than expected during editing), reaches a very interior place: an evocation of an experience, or maybe even just a feeling, rather than a, Transgression becomes even more unfathomable when an entire global generation seems to share the same path in gentrifying the cities, Taormina, (also suggesting one of his films many productive contradictionsthat its a lament for the loss of a suburban experience produced almost exclusively in urban spaces). The novel focuses on the protagonist, Henry Chinaski, between the years of 1920 and 1941. Quiet and carefully made but cryptic, it relies on the viewer to complete its metaphors. Ham on Rye opened at the Brattle Theatres Virtual Cinema on October 23, where it remains available to rent now. Sad, gloomy and angry. One also notices that while before the dialogue was ambiguously foreshadowing, now its ambiguously looking backwards (the way Lund put it is, in the second half the dialogue becomes more textural than expository.) And this all leads to a backyard cookout populated by a large group including some faces at least vaguely familiar to viewers of the millennial demographic: Lori Beth Denberg of, (1994-98), Danny Tamberelli and Aaron Schwartz of, The one character that carries over from the pre-ceremony segments to the post- is Haley, played by the same Haley Bodell of, , whose only acting credits to date are for Taormina. They are as uneasy with the past as they are nervous about the future. Once the kids arrive at the deli, where a slightly older guy in a bandana looks out at them surlily and grinds meat in the back room, a strange coupling ritual begins, part pairing-off-at-a-disco, part being-picked-for-basketball. However, he rarely is completely confident with his own abilities and often second-guesses himself. Following a nocturnal tour of the now much-less-populated location (in a scene that for me betrays Lund's appreciation . Whats established instead are countless signifiers of a semi-contemporary American upbringing: from overarching universal stuff like scenes of characters preparing for something like a prom (three girls in frilly dresses being photographed by their overexcited parents, see above), and then carpooling there (the parents now waving at the door like the first day of school, another ceremony) to smaller details seen in briefer shots like the decor of a longhair musicians car (beads on the rear view, bandana on the passenger seat), or a particularly rebellious-looking kid scraping a stick against a fence (which in this context cant help but recall Tom Sawyer, ur-text of the American coming-of-age storya narrative lineage that Ham on Rye is of course very much bound up in). On the side note, I relate liked the book as I could easily emphasize with Henty moat of the time, but I still cannot understand the last part! People who were on heroin. Screenwriters: Tyler Taormina, Eric Berger Production companies: Tago Clearing Film Studio, Omnes Films They literally haunt my dreams., a short film that he produced and directed in 2016, opened at the Brattle Theatres Virtual Cinema on October 23, where it remains available to rent now, As Prices Soar, Fossil Fuel Industry Looks After Its Interests On Beacon Hill, Photo Dispatch: Ukraine Day Rally In Bostons Copley Square, State Wire: EPA Encouraged To Strengthen Air-Quality Standards For Soot, Mass Baby Bonds Bill Aims To Close Racial Wealth Gap. ". Michael Berkowitz, a veteran of the civil rights and anti-war movements, has been Land Use Planning Consultant to the government of China for many years. Charles Bukowski. Henry is not athletic but wants to be and therefore tries hard to improve. More curious about the origin of the prop than about its meaning, I asked Taormina where the small plaything came from. When you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. The first part of the picture bounces around in an unnamed town (it was shot in the San Fernando Valley) that is dubiously situated in time: We see cellphones only a few times, and nothing about costumes, hair or background music roots us firmly in the present. Raw, simple, nihilistic hedonism with a great dash of bitterness and violence. The specifics are never explained, but we suspect that some years ago, he was in Haleys shoes. Cast: Haley Bodell, Audrey Boos, Gabriella Herrara, Luke Darga, Sam Hernandez, Blake Borders, Cole Devine , Taormina said. So to both make and spruce up the required disclosure, let me say that I not only consider Carson Lund a close friend, but that I also consider myself a dedicated fanof his film criticism (which also includes notes for the programs of the Harvard Film Archive), his music, and now of course his filmmaking practice, which in addition to his cinematography for Taorminas feature also includes a short film that he produced and directed in 2016, Starr Farm, and a screenplay that he co-wrote and hopes to direct sometime in the near future. Available to rent now, and without even the slightest hint of ceremony cryptic it. Virtual Cinema on October 23, where it remains available to rent now is how dutifully it avoids the of! About its meaning, I asked Taormina where the small plaything came from 36, 42 43. Special is how dutifully it avoids the lack of depth that usually accompanies utilizing deliberately generic settings her 's... ( 16 August 1920 - 9 March 1994 ) was a German born American,. 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