A lot of laymen assume that it’s only up-and-coming filmmakers who are struggling in the independent film climate, taking risks with brand new technology that may or may not work. Not so, according to a NY Times article, reporting on “Road To Nowhere,” which veteran director Monte Hellman (“Two Lane Blacktop,” “The Shooting”) is shopping to distributors before making a festival debut at Venice, among other locations.
“Nowhere,” which was made for under $5 million, has been described as a “romantic noir,” though the Times tells us it’s a movie within a movie, “a North Carolina political scandal, a double suicide, multiple identities and myriad flashbacks, U-turns and pirouettes in the plotline.” Hellman, who compares the film to “Last Year At Marienbad,” describes the narrative as both a “puzzle” and directly related to the theme of gambling, and the film itself as a “dream project.”
Told he would need $12 million for the budget, Hellman instead shot with the Canon 5D Mark II, a high-def camera that captures twelve minutes at a time and looks and handles like a stills camera. As a result, even though they ran out of production money for the South Carolina shoot, they were able to finish by traveling to Europe and shooting without a permit, thanks to the inconspicuousness of the Mark II. Don’t try that at home, kids.
The cast includes Shannyn Sossamon, Cliff de Young, Dominique Swain and Tygh Runyan, and it sounds to be the type of low-key experiment that seventies-peer Francis Ford Coppola has been trying to make with “Youth Without Youth” and “Tetro.” The cast sounds fairly uninspired, bringing back memories of Hellman’s last directorial effort, the low-rent short “Stanley’s Girlfriend” from the direct-to-DVD horror anthology “Trapped Ashes.” Still, Sossamon speaks glowingly of the process, revealing of Hellman, “He already has another film we’re going to do together.” While we do question his choice in muses, we’ll be glad if Hellman, who hasn’t directed a theatrically-released movie since 1988, can make a successful return from an unwarranted obscurity.