Doorways and Meander
Watching the opening credits, a couple of names stood out immediately. Edgar Muniz and Laura Benson. Muniz has become a friend and inspiration the past couple of years, having screened his last two features (including “Rocks & Pebbles & Happiness”), while Benson was the striking star of his latest one, this year’s “Someone Else in the Evening,” which is one of the best films I’ve seen all year. Seeing their names at the front of the credits allowed me to feel sure that “Doorways and Meander,” which starts with a man vomiting in a dusty town outside of a bar and walking around the desert, would be an interesting excursion into indie cinema.
And if nothing else, writer-director Mo Shirazi’s “Doorways and Meander” is interesting. After the unusual opening sequence, we see Muniz and Benson onscreen. Muniz’s Meander is reading on the beach, and Benson’s Belize has been in the ocean. They discuss their new relationships. We continue to see shots of the man (who is Meander) from the opening, unshaven, walking in the desert, as their discussion moves back into the city, and back to the possibility of them getting back together. We see them “making love,” although the way Shirazi shoots it, they are as still as mannequins, striking poses of lovemaking rather than doing the physical act–a smart way of showing the emotional disconnect between the two (he also uses this technique later; why is it no one has really done this before?).
The film follows ups and downs in Meander and Belize’s relationship, including a violent scene when Meander barges in on her and a date where he chokes her and hits the man with her with a bottle. We also see run-ins with another ex of Meander and a prostitute Meander has. The way it moves from scene-to-scene isn’t always easy to follow, but that’s why you watch through to the end. Of course, a film like this, you can see most people turning this off early on, looking at it as pretentious indie clap-trap. Trust me, I know the difference between that and films that get to something deeper. Thankfully, this is one of the latter. It may not be as striking or resonate as Muniz’s own work (especially “Someone Else in the Evening”), but it’s hard to say no to a film this formally unique.
What it is easy to say no to is the character of Meander. When you see the full narrative unfold, Meander is truly unsympathetic. He is abusive to the women in his life, and unable to accept responsibility for his actions. Typical guy to be sure. But like Christ’s time in the desert, enlightenment comes to Meander. If that last sentence sounds over-the-top, well, I’d challenge you not to think of the same thing watching it. Will he be a better person from here on out? Maybe. But will the world let him? That I leave for you to find out.
