Fugitive Dreams (Fantasia Fest)
**Seen for the 2020 Fantasia International Film Festival.
I’ll admit straight away that there were times during Jason Neulander’s road movie where my interest waned in his sometimes-abstract narrative. Where it did not wane is in the performances by April Matthis and Robbie Tann in the main characters. These two convey a pained humanity that permeates through every frame and nuance of their work in this film, and it is striking and beautiful.
When we first meet Mary (Matthis), she has found a piece of glass on the ground. She goes in to the barthroom of a nearby gas station, and it’s immediately obvious what she is planning on doing. Before she can, however, in runs John (Tann), who has to go to the bathroom. He actually forgets to do so, though, when he interrupts Mary, and he goes after her. She wants nothing to do with him, but he seems to need a connection to live, so he continues to try and strike up a conversation with her. They eventually end up in the same train car, going it doesn’t matter where, and that exterior of Mary’s starts to crack with him. When a couple of fellow transients, Israfel (Scott Shepherd) and his mother, Providence (O-Lan Jones), who only communicates in high-pitched noises, climb on board, the tranquility they found themselves achieving gets broken, and when they have to exit the train car, their journey becomes a lot more surreal.
Usually, black-and-white is used by filmmakers working on a low budget who cannot afford anything more expensive. When used as a deliberate choice, we hope that it adds something to the film we are watching. “Fugitive Dreams” is definitely in the latter category, as Neulander and his cinematographer, Peter Simonite, create a landscape of stark poetry for Mary and John to travel in. We get the impression they are homeless, but we get enough of an idea in strategic flashbacks that they are more just wanderers through life, with Mary prepared to end it, and John wanting to live it. Their connection is the one we’re focused on, and when it is severed, the film loses some interest emotionally, although it allows for a strange trip through the surreal for John, and a fascinating performance by David Patrick Kelly as something of a spirit guide for him. Once they find themselves reunited, the film finds that emotional connection, and we are left thinking about that as the credits roll. This may have the strongest performances of Fantasia Fest; certainly two viewers will likely remember for a few hours after watching the film, as I did.
