Hey folks, Harry here with the coughing phlegmy one... That's right, Massawyrm, and this time he has a very unique film that is apparently quite powerful, that has distribution, has an R-rating, but Theater Chains are conspiring to NOT SHOW THE FILM! What are the theaters afraid of? Read... and Respond below...
Hola all. Man on a mission Massawyrm here with something that came into my indie indie column stack, but just doesn’t quite fall under the same guidelines as my usual fare. You see, my column is dedicated to getting the word out on really good undiscovered gems that could use a push to get discovered. With this film, “Gang Tapes”, that just isn’t the case. It’s been discovered. In fact it’s an indie film totally financed by Lion’s Gate and has distribution…almost. Before I get into the almost (and you can bet your sweet ass I’m gonna go on and on about the almost) let me first expose you (many of you for the first time) to the great little indie called “Gang tapes”.
“Gang Tapes” is the directorial debut of Adam Ripp, a writer/director who runs with the Bryan Singer/Christopher McQuarrie crowd, and co-produced their first film “Public Access”. He’s been attached to and has been working on a couple of projects, but this is the first to come out that is entirely his own, and it’s a doozy: a wonderfully conceived and brilliantly realized urban tale cast heavily in the underground indie mold.
Now let me get this out of the way because comparisons exist and there can’t really be an accurate discussion of this film without bringing up the most divided of all indies, “The Blair Witch Project”. Now Adam Ripp actually used this film in his pitch to Lion’s Gate. “Blair Witch in the Hood” is how he phrased it. While this may be off-putting to some of you, stay with me here. I’m gonna go somewhere with this.
“Gang Tapes” begins with a white suburbanite family visiting Hollywood, chronicling their adventure on a DV mini cam. In fact, all we see is the images they’re taking of one another on their trip. Just moments in, while driving through town, they’re viciously carjacked and forced out onto the street. Three hoods drive off with the car, the camera still lying on the seat. The camera makes it’s way to Kris, a 14-year-old black kid living in Watts who is just beginning to come into his own with the local gang. Kris falls in love with his camera and takes it with him everywhere, recording his unknowing decent into the violent, brutal world of urban gang life. Every image we see is one brought to us through Kris’s eyes with his camera without narration.
And now you see the comparison.
Only “Gang Tapes” takes Blair Witch out into the street and pistol-whips the shit out of it. All of the slight errors that Blair Witch had tipping its hat that the film was conceived and not real are absent from this. It is startlingly real in fact. I knew going in that this was fictitious (and Adam Ripp makes no claims nor has he presented this as anything other than a “Film”) and yet there are scenes in which I just couldn’t believe that what I was seeing was staged. The editing is such that it looks as if we’re watching the direct feed from the camera, just as Kris recorded it, only cutting to another scene when the camera is shut off. The difference between this kind of editing and the editing from Blair Witch is that a scene never goes on longer than it should and all the entering and exiting that is necessary in most films to link scenes together is omitted, giving us more of a quick cut fever dream chronology of Kris’s summer that just wouldn’t work in a standard film.
We watch as Kris goes from being just one of the neighborhood kids to his initiation, his first sexual experience and his eventual acceptance into the inner circle of the gang. Every step is masterfully told. Never is the lifestyle glamorized nor does it ever suffer from blatant stereotypes or preaching. It is raw, unfiltered and merciless. Every moment of joy, every moment of agony, every moment of fear is brought to the screen in no uncertain terms. This movie hits like a fist to the gut followed by a cap to the back of the head.
Coming in at about 76 minutes, “Gang Tapes” is pure, uncut reality snorted right up the nose to kick your brain into high gear. Adam Ripp drives you into the heart of Watts and leaves your ass to walk home alone. And just when you think he’s taken you just as far as you think he can go, he cranks the knob to eleven and pushes things just that much further. This movie fucked me up, fucked me up good, which is exactly what this film was supposed to do.
What really makes this film is the attention paid to every detail. The violent sequences are choreographed to such precision as to be as real as possible so that they don’t for one second feel staged. The way the guns pop in the distance rather than “Bang”; the way everyone scatters and shits their pants rather than standing up to be a hero; the looks on the faces pulling the triggers. It’s all as real as it’s ever been presented on film.
I know what a couple of you are saying right now. “Oh, who are you Mr. Movie Critic to tell us what real violence is like. The closest you’ve ever come to a gunfight is sitting in a theatre.” No. Trust me, I know. When you’ve had to dart into the house dragging your girlfriend behind you because three guys just ran across your lawn chased by a car (also on your lawn) with another guy hanging out the passenger side window unloading a pistol at them, you know. When you’ve stupidly chased a gunman into the night who has shot your neighbor and then turned around to run back because it just dawned on you how stupid you are, you know. And when you’ve lived on the wrong side of town for as long as I have, you know. And you never get used to it.
This film doesn’t for one second pretend that you ever do.
Adam Ripp wanted to tell this story, but to do so he knew he couldn’t do it alone. So after writing the script with Steven Wolfson he held a casting call for gang and ex-gang members to audition for the parts and then chose the bulk of his cast from it. Then he had his cast “translate” the script, so to speak, into the vernacular of the streets. He tapped every single one of his cast members as technical advisors, letting them control the beat and rhythm of their speech using the script as a loose guideline to what they were saying. They helped to ensure that the story he told was real, a representation of their lives and not something the likes of which Hollywood usually churns out on the subject. And all that advising pays off with the most realistic portrayal of street life I’ve ever seen.
And I’m not the only one who feels this way. Several high profile African-Americans have given their support to the film. Coolio contributed a tight unreleased track for the end titles and I’ve heard that Dr. Dre owns a copy and shows it to his buddies as one of those “You have to see this” films. “Gang tapes” was awarded a special Jury Prize from the New York Underground Film Festival for ‘Best Ensemble Cast’ and received ‘Best Feature Film’ from the San Francisco Black Film Festival. Aside from that it played at Cinequest in San Jose, Pan African- Los Angeles, Pan African- Denver and Berlinbeta in Berlin, among others.
So where does this ALMOST distributed come in? Well, here’s the kicker. Lion’s Gate financed it and they love it. It’s been submitted to the MPAA and they gave it an “R” rating for Strong Violence, language, drug use and some sexuality (which does include nudity), and let me tell you, it’s a hard “R”. Everyone connected to the film wants to see it in theatres. Lion’s Gate wants to open it wide (yes, wide). So what’s the problem?
“Gang Tapes” has been blacklisted by, from what I hear is, every major theatre chain in the country over fears of gang violence at showings. Nobody wants to show it. Lions Gate can’t find major venues to open it at. So they are reconfiguring their campaign for an arthouse release, which was one of the last things they wanted to do with this.
Pardon me a second while I break out the can of whoop ass and my bitch stick.
What the fuck are you theatre owners thinking?!? Are you kidding me??? This film has a positive message without the usual death shroud of an after school special (that pretends to be deep and meaningful but instead plays off as slick cheese bible thumping morality) and you want to bury it where no one can see it? A company like Lion’s Gate has the brass cajones to put out something this powerful and you won’t show it because of envisioned fears of violence? What, its okay to have slick gang films that star Denzel and Cuba, but put together something that tells the real story and cast it with unknowns and you don’t have the balls to show it??? One again, are you kidding me??? I’m sorry, but this pisses me the hell off.
There’s no slow-mo sloshing of a forty on a grave here. No call to arms. No tired clichés that make gang members look cool. This film tells it like it is and says boldly and clearly that this life isn’t the way; that there are no old gang members; that violence begets violence and nothing else. “Gang Tapes” is to gang films as the last 20 minutes of Goodfellas was to gangster films. The assumption that this film will inspire violence is saying quite clearly that you, as theatre owners, think that gang members won’t take a message away from the film, that instead they’ll only see violence and want a piece of the action.
Now, gang violence has occurred at theatres before over films. Hell, it goes way back to “The Warriors” (yeah, I know how that may sound, but it’s true.) But the films that always inspire violence are the ones in which we, as the audience, really side with the gang members. The Warriors inspired violence because it made the gang lifestyle look cool. The warriors were cool. Their fights were cool. And everyone that gets theirs has it coming. This movie doesn’t inspire that kind of satisfaction nor does it make us feel like someone needs to be avenged. There’s no mournful loss of the guy that didn’t deserve it. It is a film that’s very clear about what it’s saying, so clear that someone is willing to give it the big push and you won’t let them. What gives? What are you trying to say? My e-mail address is at the bottom of the page. You let me know.
For the rest of you, Lion’s Gate is trying to get this at you asap. They’re trying to work the typical coastal arthouse release, NY/LA, to prove that this film can hit screens without people hitting pavement. Hopefully that will open up the big chains eyes to the fact that this needs to get screentime.
This film isn’t for everybody, I’ll tell you that right now. It’s gonna be a brutal assault on some of you and you may not be ready to go on the ride Adam Ripp wants to take you on. But if this sounds like your cup of tea, it comes highly recommended from the Wyrm. I simply haven’t seen a film this eye opening in quite some time. Indie fans, see this at your earliest opportunity.
Until next time friends,
Smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em. I know I will.
Massawyrm
