Sedona, AZ - Many people recently sat on the
edge of their movie seats at the Harkins Six Theater
in Sedona,
enjoying the wonderful cinematic offerings of the
14th Annual Sedona Film Festival. The outstanding
community enhancement that Executive Director of the
Sedona Film Festival, Patrick Schweiss, and his
enthusiastic crew bring to this area each year with
this marvelous internationally renowned event
deserves its own round of applause.
Watching movies day and night sounds like my idea of
heaven, but there was only time to see one movie at
the Festival this year. It’s pure luck that "The
Brothel" was certainly the right one for me. This
visual treat for the eyes and soul stirred so many
emotions and memories in me about love and loss that
it was painful to watch at times. Consequently,
though, this film helped to further purge the ghosts
of those memories as well as providing an
opportunity to appreciate the artistry of the
filmmakers involved.
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Director, Amy Waddell, at the Q&A for
her movie "The Brothel" at the 14th
Annual Sedona Film Festival. Much
of the film was shot in Jerome, Arizona. |
Great films can do that kind of psychological
cleaning service for the viewer. They send a message
that you can relate to in your life, touch your
heart and mind, and then roll the closing credits
leaving you with the residual experience to reflect
upon and discuss with those close to you afterward.
You might even dream about themes that you see and
feel throughout the film. Then, you know it was a
really great movie for you.
Speaking as a film lover and museum curator, art is what the viewer
makes of it. What is one person’s water is another
person’s fine wine. Whether it is Nouveau
Contemporary or American Western Cowboy art, it’s
all in the interpretation of the individual viewing
the piece. If you open your mind, you can find the
connections that speak to your life in art. "The
Brothel" was a nice, rich full-bodied merlot for
this reviewer meant to be sipped and savored.
Director Amy Waddell has used the cinematic art form
to blend the heritage of the wonderful area of
Northern Arizona with the private pathos of a woman
named Julianne who is torn between the world of the
living and the dead when her lover commits suicide.
Julianne tries to eradicate the pain of the loss by
courting death itself, but runs away instead to
Jerome, Arizona, to try and start over by buying an
old rundown brothel to turn it into an inn. In the
process, she meets the ghosts of the women who
inhabited the brothel in the 1800’s who draw her
into their world and represent aspects of Julianne’s
own shattered emotional state.
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Actress, Grace Zabriskie, in "The Brothel" at the 14th
Annual Sedona Film Festival. Ms. Zabriskie is classic in her portrayal as
a turn-of-the-century madam. |
The historical setting should be entertaining for
locals familiar with Jerome, since one of the
buildings used for filming was the former House of
Joy where miners once went for paid companionship
and a good time after a day underground. Another
more contemporary local venue, Eliphante, served as
the background setting for Julianne’s dream sequence
when she is lost in a mine.
The film provides some excellent cinematography
composing beautiful vignettes that stimulate and
arouse the artistic sensibilities of the viewer.
While some viewers may have found certain
transitions between fantasy and reality difficult to
follow, the film basically moves seamlessly between
this world, the past and what the future could hold
for Julianne; reminiscent of the techniques used by
Ingmar Bergman or Federico Fellini in their films.
Grace Zabriskie is classic in her portrayal as the
turn-of-the-century madam who guides Julianne
through the netherworld to better understand her
relationship with the inhabitants of the brothel.
Combining Jerome and its local colorful historical
past with a very universal theme about balancing a
choice between life and death, love or loss, makes
this film very connected to the viewer, if they are
open to the different possibilities. At the second
screening, Waddell expressed some of her insights
about the fine balance that many artists can have or
lose when emotions become too overwhelming in their
lives.
As her first feature-length independent film, there
is only request that this reviewer would make to Ms.
Waddell: please make more.
Q&A for the movie "The Brothel" at the 14th
Annual Sedona Film Festival
(double click play
button)
Cast: Grace Zabriskie, Serena Scott Thomas,
Christian Martin, Brett Cullen, Bruce Payne, Sarah
Lassez, Andrea Morris
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