| Wristcutters: A Love Story | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Goran Dukić |
| Produced by | Chris Coen Tatiana Kelly Mikal P.Lazarev Adam Sherman |
| Screenplay by | Goran Dukić |
| Story by | Etgar Keret |
| Starring | Patrick Fugit Shannyn Sossamon Shea Whigham Leslie Bibb Tom Waits |
| Music by | Bobby Johnston Gogol Bordello |
| Cinematography | Vanja Cernjul |
| Editing by | Jonathan Alberts |
| Studio | No Matter Pictures Crispy Films Halcyon Pictures |
| Distributed by | Autonomous Films |
| Release date(s) | January 24, 2006 (Sundance) October 19, 2007 (Limited) November 2, 2007 |
| Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1 million |
| Box office | $460,136 |
Wristcutters: A Love Story is a 2006 comedy-fantasy-romance film written and directed by Goran Dukić, starring Patrick Fugit, Shea Whigham, and Shannyn Sossamon. It is set in a strange afterlife way-station that has been reserved for people who have committed suicide.
It is based on Etgar Keret's short story "Kneller's Happy Campers". A graphic novel version was titled Pizzeria Kamikaze.
The film was originally intended to be shot on super-16 color infrared film, which was produced specially by Kodak. The color-shifts inherent in using this kind of film were thought to enhance the parallel world feel to the action.[1] In the end, it proved to be too time-consuming and the film was shot using normal filmstock manipulated in post-processing.[2]
The film was produced on an estimated budget of $1 million[3] and made its premiere at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, and was distributed in limited release on October 19, 2007, before being expanded into wide release on November 2, 2007. It was released on DVD on March 25, 2008, courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment.[4]
Contents |
After Zia (Patrick Fugit) commits suicide by cutting his wrists, he finds himself in an afterlife limbo that is much the same as his former reality, just slightly worse. Here the color is dim, there are no flowers or stars, and no one can smile. This strange realm is populated by people who have committed suicide, such as Eugene (Shea Whigham), a Russian rocker who lives with his mother (Mary Pat Gleason), father (Anatol Rezmeritza), and brother (Cameron Bowen) – all suicide victims. Eugene kills himself on stage by pouring a beer he is drinking onto his electric guitar. Together they waste most of their afterlives in bars, until Zia learns from a friend (an uncredited Jake Busey) that his ex-girlfriend, Desiree (Leslie Bibb), has also committed suicide. He and Eugene take to the road to find her in Eugene's car, which has seen better days. Early on it is revealed that Eugene's car has two idiosyncrasies: a sort of black hole underneath the passenger seat where items that are dropped disappear forever and broken headlights that cannot be fixed by the most adept of mechanics. On their trip, they pick up hitchhiker Mikal (Shannyn Sossamon), who insists there's been a mistake, and she is seeking the "people in charge" (a.k.a. the PIC) in order to be sent back.
After a few interesting adventures across the country, the trio are traveling on a desolate highway, when Mikal pushes a button, miraculously activating the broken lights on Eugene's car. Shortly thereafter, they come upon a man lying in the middle of the dark road, and must veer off the road, wrecking the car, to avoid hitting him. They discover the man, Kneller (Tom Waits), an eccentric commune leader of sorts, had fallen asleep while looking for his dog. He invites them back to his camp to rest for the night, where they quickly discover that minor "miracles" happen all the time, objects change color, people or objects float, and all "miracles" are initiated by the campers, only when they do not wish for, or care about them. The group stays with the camp longer than intended. Zia begins to obsess about the miracles, and his inability to perform them. When contrasting this to Mikal's obsession with the people in charge, she reveals the nature of the mistake. She accidentally overdosed on heroin, with no intention of killing herself, and thus did not commit suicide. Eugene meets a young woman, Nanuk, whom he romances. Just as Mikal and Zia discuss their plans to leave Kneller's camp to resume their searches, another camper Yan (John Hawkes) emerges from the woods with news of Kneller's dog Freddy, who he claims is being held hostage by "Messiah King" and his hundreds of followers. Kneller, Zia, Mikal, and Yan set off in search of King and Kneller's dog.
Along the way the group becomes lost, and end up bedding down for the night. Mikal and Zia, who are out gathering wood to keep a fire going, discover an ocean shore nearby, where they share a passionate night. In the morning, Kneller happens upon them lying together on the rocky shore littered with used condoms and syringes. The group continue and eventually reach King's camp, which is a large cult compound filled with followers who are waiting for King to perform a "real" miracle – to separate his soul from his body. Kneller gains audience with King (Will Arnett) to get his dog back, where Zia finds his ex-girlfriend, Desiree, working with King. The two steal away briefly to talk and Zia learns that Desiree became a devout follower of King's teachings after his death, eventually committing suicide to follow King into the afterlife. King starts his ritual to perform his "miracle", taking his own life, again, while in the view of all those in his camp. As he dies, Kneller is seen cryptically speaking into a device calling for backup. Initially the crowd notices what they believe are angels parachuting in; however, as they land, vans and cars pull up, and it is revealed that the "angels" are in fact the PIC. The crowd is dispersed, Messiah and Desiree are taken away, and Mikal leaves with them, calling back to Zia she'll be back in five minutes. He sits down on a small stool, waiting till dark when Eugene and his lady friend pull up in their car. The group heads to a train station, where Eugene reveals that Kneller was an undercover agent for the PIC, but his camp has now been shut down. He also explains that Mikal's story was true and that the PIC are sending her back to life. Eugene and Nanuk depart on a small train car, leaving Zia with the keys to the car.
Zia returns to the car, obviously deep in thought over Mikal. He lights a cigarette, and when he releases a burning match, it floats up towards another one floating in the sky, sent there by Mikal earlier on in Kneller's camp, the two of them forming the only two 'stars' in the night sky. Zia has finally performed a miracle. He leaves, and when he is stopped at a railroad crossing, he drops a cassette in the black hole under the seat. As the train passes, it is revealed that Zia has climbed into the hole. The film cuts to a large warehouse filled with halls of boxes, Kneller is seen picking up Zia's file from a box, placing it into his inside breast pocket, and commenting on how fortunate it is to know people in high places. The film cuts back to Zia, who wakes up in a hospital bed. He turns his head, noting his parents outside a door talking to doctors. When he looks at the person in the bed next to his, he sees Mikal. Both look at each other and smile widely.
Gogol Bordello's music forms the backbone of the soundtrack for the film; the character Eugene is partly based on the band's lead singer, Eugene Hütz. Tom Waits, who plays Kneller in the film, also appears on the soundtrack with the song "Dead and Lovely" (from his 2004 album Real Gone) in the opening credits. Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and Christian Death's "Deathwish" can be heard in the background of the first bar scene of the film (both bands were fronted by singers who have committed suicide), and an arrangement of "Gloomy Sunday" can be heard at a later point, songs about or associated with suicide.
The film received a positive review in The New York Times, which named it a "Critics' Pick" and said in part that it "has an offbeat, absurdist charm that turns a potentially creepy concept into an odd, touching adventure."[5] As of July 2011, the film had a 66% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[6]
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