You likely know filmmaker Richard Kelly as the writer and director of the 2001 cult classic DONNIE DARKO. SOUTHLAND TALES was Kelly’s 2006 follow-up, in which (as often occurs in sophomore films) he went completely berserk.
…he went completely berserk.
In contrast to the modestly mounted DARKO, SOUTHLAND TALES is an extremely dense multi-character saga that tries to encompass millennial angst, the mood of post 9/11 America, PTSD, environmental depletion, political extremism, media manipulation, Biblical prophecy, celebrity worship and the apocalypse. That’s in addition to more concrete concerns like abduction and time travel, contained in a narrative so insanely complex it took its creator three graphic novel prequels in addition to the present film to fully encompass it. The script is said to have begun quite simply, as a comedy about the kidnapping of a celebrity, only to balloon into an ungodly mess. The finished film is, however, a fascinating mess.
SOUTHLAND TALES is an extremely dense multi-character saga that tries to encompass millennial angst, the mood of post 9/11 America, PTSD, environmental depletion, political extremism, media manipulation, Biblical prophecy, celebrity worship and the apocalypse.
The setting is an alternate universe Southern California. In this world a 2001 nuclear blast on the border between Texas and Mexico (an event meant, apparently, as a 9/11 stand-in) has cowed America’s populace, with a right wing outfit known as USident, a.k.a. “Homeland Security on steroids,” running the country. In more upbeat news a substance called Fluid Karma, harvested from the center of the Earth via a massive oil rig stationed off the coast of Santa Monica, has solved the world’s energy woes.
The unwieldy retinue of protagonists includes Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson in one of his earliest starring roles), an actor who was part of a time travel experiment that caused some kind of inter-dimensional rift. Boxer is currently being manipulated by a band of Venice Beach based Neo-Marxists headed by a woman named Zora (Cheri Oteri), who’s looking to tilt the 2008 presidential election. Assisting in this gambit is Krysta (Sarah Michelle Gellar in her best post-BUFFY performance), a psychically-endowed porn star who initiates an affair with Boxer, much to the consternation of his high society wife Madeleine (Mandy Moore). Also doing the Neo-Marxists’ bidding are Roland and Ronald (both played by Seann William Smith), twins who were part of the abovementioned experiment.
Orbiting this nutty drama are Walter (Christoph Lambert), a guy who sells automatic firearms out of an ice cream truck, and Abilene (Justin Timberlake), an Iraq War veteran tasked with maintaining public order from atop the Santa Monica Pier. The orchestrator of all this is a shadowy individual known as the Baron (Wallace Shawn) whose true motives, like so much else about this film, are a mystery. Further characters include a ruthless English accented USident higher-up (Miranda Richardson), a quirky old woman (Zelda Rubinstein in one of her final roles), an Asian seductress (Bai Ling) and a Hispanic singer (MULHOLLAND DRIVE’s Rebekah del Rio) who belts out a bilingual version of “The Star Spangled Banner.”
The finished film is, however, a fascinating mess.
It all climaxes in a Mega Zeppelin (a structure designed by the great Ron Cobb, of ALIEN, TOTAL RECALL and quite a few other high profile credits) floating through downtown LA on the Fourth of July, which not coincidentally marks the end of the world. (For a full rendering of the hows and whys of all this you’ll have to read the graphic novels.)
SOUTHLAND TALES currently exists in two versions: a 158 minute “Cannes Cut” and a more economical 145 minute version that was released theatrically in 2007. Richard Kelly claims he’s not satisfied with either, regarding both as “unfinished.” The film does indeed have an unfinished feel, and not just because several subplots (including one involving Janeane Garofalo, who’s almost entirely absent from the theatrical version) were excised.
That Kelly was overwhelmed by the project is evident in the perfunctory action scenes and lackadaisical filmmaking, which lacks the polish of DONNIE DARKO (or even Kelly’s third feature THE BOX). Adding to the incoherency is the fact that the cast, comprised largely of comedians (which in addition to those cast members mentioned above includes Will Sasso, Amy Poehler, Nora Dunn, John Larroquette, Jon Lovitz, Curtis Armstrong and Kevin Smith), was allowed to ad-lib quite extensively.
Yet the film, as I said, is not without interest. Its comedy-fueled depiction of political corruption in a science fiction framework recalls the writings of Robert Anton Wilson, and there’s even a hint of GRAVITY’S RAINBOW in the insanely wide-ranging, borderline impenetrable sci fi narrative. The tone essentially mimics the soundtrack, which alternates Beethoven, a portion of the Killers tune “All These Things That I’ve Done” (played in a totally out-of-place musical sequence) and a brooding synthesizer score by Moby. It is, in short, all over the place, meaning those who appreciate cinematic insanity (as I do) will find plenty to enjoy.
…comedy-fueled depiction of political corruption in a science fiction framework…
Ultimately, though, perhaps the real reason I like this film as much as I do is because I’m a longtime resident of Southern California, and no other post-2000 movie makes better use of its landmarks. The film’s settings include the Santa Monica Pier, the Venice Beach boardwalk, Dockweiler Beach, the Playa del Rey wetlands and the Hermosa Beach strand, and included in the cast is longtime Beach Cities legend Robert “Burgie” Benz (the former mayor of Hermosa Beach and star of the public access show BURGIE LIVE). Richard Kelly claims to have spent a great deal of time in So Cal, and clearly knows the region quite well.
That, of course, makes for yet another thematic wrinkle in addition to all those listed above, although I say it can be forgiven. It’s not too common these days to find a film that’s too ambitious rather than the other way around, and for this SOUTHLAND TALES deserves credit.
Vital Statistics
SOUTHLAND TALES
Universal Pictures/Cherry Road Films
Director: Richard Kelly
Producers: Bo Hyde, Sean McKittrick, Matthew Rhodes
Screenplay: Richard Kelly
Cinematography: Steven Poster
Editing: Sam Bauer
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mandy Moore, Wallace Shawn, Justin Timberlake, Miranda Richardson, Cheri Oteri, Curtis Armstrong, John Larroquette, Bai Ling, Jon Lovitz, Christopher Lambert, Will Sasso, Holmes Osborne, Amy Poehler, Zelda Rubinstein, Kevin Smith, Rebekah Del Rio, Nora Dunn, Janeane Garofalo, Beth Grant, Shannon Lee Holmes, Robert “Burgie” Benz