Southland Tales (2006)

Directed by: Richard Kelly | 145 minutes | drama, thriller, comedy, science fiction | Actors: Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Justin Timberlake, Curtis Armstrong, Robert Benz, Todd Berger, Joe Campana, Carlos Amezcua

Since 2001, writer and director Richard Kelly has been able to occupy the minds of film buffs thanks to his debut ‘Donnie Darko’, which left a crushing impression. The film went to all kinds of festivals and slowly but surely conquered a cult status. ‘Donnie Darko’ is a movie that doesn’t have a clear explanation, so there are various theories going around and when you think you’ve figured out what Kelly meant you’ll come across another explanation from someone else, which you have to admit is “ there’s something in it.”

It was to be expected, but with ‘Southland Tales’ the filmmaker goes even further. His first album catapulted Richard Kelly into the ranks of talented colleagues such as Christopher Nolan or Darren Aronofsky, also filmmakers who achieved great success early in their careers and whose subsequent productions were eagerly anticipated. The expectations for Kelly’s second film were therefore sky-high. The first version of ‘Southland Tales’ had a disastrous premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006, after which Kelly decided to continue working on the film. That version remained on the shelf for a few more years, before being released direct to DVD in most countries.

There are definitely similarities between ‘Southland Tales’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ thematically. Both films are about the end of the world and about time travel. A big difference, however, is that ‘Southland Tales’ is not about a person, but it is an ensemble film, just like ‘Babel’ and ‘Amores perros’ are. Three characters are central and get to do with each other in the course of the story. What is such a shame is that there is virtually no character in it that the viewer can identify with. They are not necessarily unsympathetic, but they also do not know how to completely drag the audience into their emotional journey.

Furthermore, ‘Southland Tales’ is not a film for people who desire a traditional and neatly rounded story, so if ‘Donnie Darko’ is beyond your head, you don’t have to risk this print at all. Kelly wrote three comic books and this film is the sequel to that. Supposedly reading the comics beforehand would increase the understanding of the movie, but even more it feels like ‘Southland Tales’ is a pilot for a TV series, in which too many storylines are plotted without finishing them neatly.

Kelly seems to have gone out of his way to make a film that is not entertaining, often there is no rope. And that’s quite frustrating. It is therefore not a film to recommend to everyone, because there is a good chance that you have the idea that you have thrown away 145 minutes of your life, without having obtained anything positive from it. On the other hand, it is also good to imagine that there are enthusiasts who completely run away with it, want to analyze the film to the bone and rewatch it to get all the deeper layers out of it. And it must be said: ‘Southland Tales’ is genius at times, absolutely original, ambitious (some would say ‘pretentious’), the film is therefore never tedious and therefore never boring.

When you look at the list of actors, the thought comes to mind that Kelly wanted to pull out a ‘Tarantino’. A host of famous names, cameos and B-actors such as Christopher Lambert and Zelda Rubinstein have turned up. Just as Tarantino saw the return of former Hollywood actors like John Travolta and the launch of Uma Thurman’s career, Kelly seems to want to do the same with his cast. Yet his not obvious choice for certain roles does have the desired effect, that over-the-top acting just fits into an unusual film like this and enhances the surreal atmosphere that emanates from this futuristic narration. If Kelly set out to equal the success of ‘Donnie Darko’ with ‘Southland Tales’, he failed to do so, because the film in all its vagueness and incomprehension scares off too many people. But when you, as a director, manage to deliver a film that is made with so much visible passion and drive, and which is also so brilliant every now and then, you are doing something right.