Nov
28
28
The Rebirth of Lucretia DVD
The world of independent film is rich with creativity, filled to the brim with unknown and up-and-coming talents looking to make a dent in modern cinema. Robert Monson is one such auteur, and with The Rebirth of Lucretia, he strives to give viewers a 20-minute exploration into the surreal depths of psychological despair. Distributed by FilmRunner.net, produced by LiveBoulevard Design, and filmed on a digital camera in some of the grainiest, grittiest black & white tones you'll ever see, the film is minimal in its presentation but does its best to offer us a harrowing amount of visual and emotional depth. Does the film succeed in that regard? It could be argued either way, for a profound assessment of The Rebirth of Lucretia simply can't be done in a single sitting.
To provide some background on the Roman legend, Lucretia was a noblewoman who was raped by the son of King Lucius, committing suicide after telling her family about the incident. From here, the film gains its impetus as the titular character bears the scar of her name, believing that she is cursed to die an early death simply because her name is Lucretia. This is until she encounters a witch who grants her immortality, but at a terrible cost that could drive her to the brink of insanity. Amidst her mental chaos is a being known only as Latimer, who may or may not be the witch, but whose presence seems to haunt Lucretia to the point of murderous outbursts.
At least, this is the idea. The reality displayed in the film is far more complex and confusing, with the film bearing a resemblance to a deteriorated snuff film one might find locked away beneath the cracks of some dingy cellar. Apparently, this was the intent, adding a rather lush and macabre atmosphere to the whole film that benefits its choppy narrative. Indeed, much of the film is set in a series of dank basements and dilapidated rooms that would serve as the prefect torture chambers, and the emotive performances of Melissa Monson as Lucretia, Vanessa Brayton as the young Lucretia, and Barbara Wright as Latimer/the witch do well to carry the visual narrative along its nightmarish path. Given the sparseness of the dialogue, The Rebirth of Lucretia almost has the ambience of a silent film, if not for the echoing and slithering voiceovers of Latimer/the witch, taunting and slithering their way into the viewer's psyche as much as they do Lucretia's. Also present is the distorted voice of Doctor Glore, reading from a series of scribbled text cards as if to present a psychological report, although this element of the story seems tacked on for the sake of providing the viewer with some sense of context so as not to confound them too greatly.
The soundtrack, appropriately provided by the two Lucretias Vanessa Brayton and Melissa Monson, is especially noteworthy as a series of dark ambient textures with subterranean industrial undertones, given some resonance of actual music by occasional bursts of string leitmotivs. The more abstract works of Skinny Puppy and even Throbbing Gristle come to mind, significantly enhancing the gothic atmosphere of the film.
Ultimately, the greatest strength - and the greatest weakness - of The Rebirth of Lucretia is its unapologetic inability to adhere to any sense of cinematic convention. The film is very low budget and it shows, but again, it was apparently the filmmakers' intent to give it a quality akin to a snuff film without any regard for staging, lighting, or budget. Of course, this is all part of the elaborate illusion of independent cinema, as every element is so painstakingly crafted and planned to appear as unplanned as possible, creating a sense of its own reality that can only exist within the confines of the screen. Robert Monson revels in the film's low budget qualities, using them to his advantage in a way that will remind many of the early art/film projects of David Lynch and the Super8MM films of Shinya Tsukamoto. With its 20-minute running time, and its disturbingly non-commercial appeal, The Rebirth of Lucretia certainly won't win any Oscars, but it does at least give viewers a reprieve from the myriad of independent films that try so hard to appeal to the Hollywood crowd.
To provide some background on the Roman legend, Lucretia was a noblewoman who was raped by the son of King Lucius, committing suicide after telling her family about the incident. From here, the film gains its impetus as the titular character bears the scar of her name, believing that she is cursed to die an early death simply because her name is Lucretia. This is until she encounters a witch who grants her immortality, but at a terrible cost that could drive her to the brink of insanity. Amidst her mental chaos is a being known only as Latimer, who may or may not be the witch, but whose presence seems to haunt Lucretia to the point of murderous outbursts.
At least, this is the idea. The reality displayed in the film is far more complex and confusing, with the film bearing a resemblance to a deteriorated snuff film one might find locked away beneath the cracks of some dingy cellar. Apparently, this was the intent, adding a rather lush and macabre atmosphere to the whole film that benefits its choppy narrative. Indeed, much of the film is set in a series of dank basements and dilapidated rooms that would serve as the prefect torture chambers, and the emotive performances of Melissa Monson as Lucretia, Vanessa Brayton as the young Lucretia, and Barbara Wright as Latimer/the witch do well to carry the visual narrative along its nightmarish path. Given the sparseness of the dialogue, The Rebirth of Lucretia almost has the ambience of a silent film, if not for the echoing and slithering voiceovers of Latimer/the witch, taunting and slithering their way into the viewer's psyche as much as they do Lucretia's. Also present is the distorted voice of Doctor Glore, reading from a series of scribbled text cards as if to present a psychological report, although this element of the story seems tacked on for the sake of providing the viewer with some sense of context so as not to confound them too greatly.
The soundtrack, appropriately provided by the two Lucretias Vanessa Brayton and Melissa Monson, is especially noteworthy as a series of dark ambient textures with subterranean industrial undertones, given some resonance of actual music by occasional bursts of string leitmotivs. The more abstract works of Skinny Puppy and even Throbbing Gristle come to mind, significantly enhancing the gothic atmosphere of the film.
Ultimately, the greatest strength - and the greatest weakness - of The Rebirth of Lucretia is its unapologetic inability to adhere to any sense of cinematic convention. The film is very low budget and it shows, but again, it was apparently the filmmakers' intent to give it a quality akin to a snuff film without any regard for staging, lighting, or budget. Of course, this is all part of the elaborate illusion of independent cinema, as every element is so painstakingly crafted and planned to appear as unplanned as possible, creating a sense of its own reality that can only exist within the confines of the screen. Robert Monson revels in the film's low budget qualities, using them to his advantage in a way that will remind many of the early art/film projects of David Lynch and the Super8MM films of Shinya Tsukamoto. With its 20-minute running time, and its disturbingly non-commercial appeal, The Rebirth of Lucretia certainly won't win any Oscars, but it does at least give viewers a reprieve from the myriad of independent films that try so hard to appeal to the Hollywood crowd.
The Rebirth of Lucretia
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