Red Desert Penitentiary (1985)

Directed by: George Sluizer | 104 minutes | comedy | Actors: James Michael Taylor, William Rose, Jim Wortham, Carolee, Trudy Wortham, Buster Muncy, George Sluizer, Rocky Latham, Wayne Workman, David Etheredge, Randy McMichael, Tandy Curley, Robert Musgrove, Lalo Perez, Shirley Bryant, Cathryn Bissell

George Sluizer filmed his ‘Red Desert Penitentiary’, a kind of film within a film, a parody of the film (production) world and a film about the dividing line(s) between film stories and the real lives of the people on which they are based. in and around Sweetwater, Texas, where he also shot his documentary ‘Sweetwater Junction’, about the wonderful world of the ‘rattlesnake cowboys’. Although ‘Red Desert Penitentiary’ exudes the same country atmosphere, as you might suspect from the description above, it goes in many directions in terms of storytelling and focuses above all on the film world (or Hollywood) and the whims of actors.

Just like Sluizer’s biggest hit ‘Spoorloos’, from 1988, ‘Red Desert Penitentiary’ is based on a book by Tim Krabbé. However, this film did not become such a critical success. This has – probably – several reasons. One is the acting of some of the cast members, including lead actor James Michael Taylor as Dan McMan. The irony is that he also has to play a bad actor in the film, but even when he portrays ‘himself’, it unfortunately doesn’t seem very convincing. He does look somewhat like a cowboy, but beyond that, little is assumed. William Rose is also not exactly a credible appearance here as the frustrated writer James Gagan, whose book is used as source material in the film (in the film).

Furthermore, the lack of a single, well-defined theme is regrettable. The film seems to want to say all kinds of things about many things, but only touches on subjects casually, after which it switches to another subject, or another style. In addition, the flashbacks to Dan McMan’s movie scenes, or parallels between real moments in his life and those in his films, may be creative, but they don’t always come out well. Usually these scenes feel a bit clumsy.

Other scenes go on for a very long time, without this having any added value for the viewer. Such as an – admittedly crucial – scene in the film (in the film) where the inexperienced ‘sex bomb’ has to take off her blouse. It is already indicated in advance that this scene will probably have to be repeated often (where the message already gets across), but to actually show this later, take after take, is unnecessary. And unnecessarily voyeuristic.

The lesser points are a shame, because there are actually enough interesting themes in the film. For example, the female protagonist just mentioned is clearly a reference to Marilyn Monroe and the way she was treated, on set and off. How she was lived, pushed, and used. By just about everyone around her. But it also discusses her way of life and the expectations she has of the film world. Unlike Marilyn, for example, she wants to be a sex bomb and not ‘just a human being’.

But the look behind the scenes at a film crew is also amusing at times. The conflicts, disagreements, the gossip, the things that go wrong (like sets that fall over or costs that don’t), the encounters between actors. Here too, however, you have to get your hands dirty, because there are just as many moments that are not very interesting or that do nothing.

James Gagan’s backstory, as annoying as he is on set itself (within the story but also for the viewer of the film), is one of the most accomplished and accomplished elements in the film. It revolves around his innocent incarceration in the prison of the title, but the way this is told and portrayed, and the archetypal characters that appear in it, make it something bigger. It is a captivating, surreal story about the importance of standing up for yourself and taking charge of your own life.

Well viewed, this theme also runs through the rest of the film, which as a whole is still quite worthwhile, but the road to it is unfortunately a bit too messy for this message to get through properly and powerfully.