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SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: APOCRYPHA CANDIDATE: UNIVERSE 25 (2025)

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DIRECTED BY: Richard Melkonian

FEATURING: Giacomo Gex, Jacob Meadows

PLOT: Mott is directed to find a saint and a sacrificial lamb before the world ends this coming Sunday; Jacob, a postman who discovers Mott’s chronicle in the dead-letter office, is uncertain of what to make of the revelation.

Still from Universe 25 (2025)

WHY IT MIGHT MAKE THE APOCRYPHA: Melkonian draws deeply from the creative veins tapped by , , and —and so has devised an appropriately odd-and-arty outing.

COMMENTS: Richard Melkonian tells his story his way. If this means using an epistolary structure, with post office banter interrupting the flow, so be it. If this means slapping in a esque dream sequence, so be it. And if this means a West End-style musical duet between an angel and a tragic actress, so be it. While his inspirations are apparent throughout Universe 25, the film is his own, and features a singular sound and visual design. Presuming Melkonian—who serves as writer, director, and composer here—further develops his style, he has the advantage that his last name already reads as an adjective.

Beginning with some gritty back alleys in a gritty style, Universe 25 appears to concern a young postman by the name of Jacob. After a hard morning’s deliveries, his supervisor tasks him with sifting through some undeliverables. Find out if a letter or parcel might, perhaps, have its destination determined despite the “lost post” designation, and if not, affix the “Bump It” sticker after two weeks, and… bump it. Jacob is in no mood for this drudgery, and he slides the dead letters onto the floor. One oddly-addressed item catches his eye, however, and he finds himself reading the handwritten observations of a future super intelligence (a “Level Three” one), who has recently appeared in our time—emerging in a neon green glow upon a canal bridge—to await instructions from his creator. These turned out to be: find the saint; find the lamb; and compose a scroll to account for his efforts.

Mott, the super intelligence, manifests as a quietly genial human. He hears people’s prayers, and offers guidance to those who accept his divine origins. His powers work on a traumatized mother unable to acknowledge her son has gone (grown up or passed away in infancy, it is unclear). They do not work in the case of the man he identifies as the saint. This angel—or future intelligence—follows the saint, from his choreography studio, to the saint’s home in Romania, before returning home after a cryptic sequence involving Mott’s master, a lamb, and a dilapidated church.

This is all the stuff of high-religious meditation, depicted in unsightly earth form. Universe 25‘s sound alternately disorients and grounds the listener, while the nigh-ubiquitous shadows tend to black out the eyes of the performers. But we’re never locked into a trying, portentous ordeal: at the drop of a hat, we zip back to Jacob as he’s interrupted by co-workers. In the end, Mott’s fate is as unexplained as his actual origins: is he an angel? an intelligence? a wing-nut? Would all this be explained if Jacob just answered the desk phone? And while we’re asking questions, just who are this pair of Euro-hipsters who keep popping up?

Like Heaven, the future, and the lives of others: we will never know.

Capsules, It Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue

IT CAME FROM THE READER-SUGGESTED QUEUE: XI YOU [JOURNEY TO THE WEST] (2014)

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DIRECTED BY:

FEATURING: Kang-sheng Lee, Denis Lavant

PLOT: A Buddhist monk moves slowly through the streets of Marseille, until a local joins his pilgrimage.

Still from XI YOU [JOURNEY TO THE WEST] (2014)

COMMENTS: In a disused church in Halberstadt, Germany, a project is underway to perform John Cage’s ORGAN2/ASLSP (As Slow As Possible) in a manner befitting its title. With the help of a specially built instrument, this interpretation of the work is expected to last a total of 639 years, wrapping up in 2640. Cage, an avant-garde rebel probably best known for the expectation-shattering composition 4’33”, has the heart of a comedian, so naturally his piece begins with a rest, which means that for the first two years of the Halberstadt performance, playing the tune involved no melody at all.

While you’re waiting for the next note to be played (set a reminder for August 5, 2026), you could theoretically squeeze in 16,000 screenings of Xi You. It would be an appropriately Zen thing to do, considering how this is essentially a film about doing one thing with intense focus and dedication. In this case, that thing is walking, as Lee’s monk moves in careful, deliberate slow-motion, oblivious to the speed and tension that surrounds him. Like the long-term John Cage recital, it feels like a stunt, a lark at the expense of the cinema of rapid-fire edits and cacophonous explosions. But also like the Halberstadt performance, there’s a purity and a beauty in watching the monk go through his slow-paced paces, achieving a contentment unknowable to most of us.

We’re 15 minutes in before we first see Lee in relation to others (in this case, the people of the city of Marseille). He ambles along the waterfront where passersby are in an awful hurry to get somewhere else. Then he takes a steady jaunt down a busy street, where the only thing stationary is a store mannequin, price tag prominent. Most compelling is the monk’s descent down the steps to a subway station (a mode of transportation he can’t possibly be intending to take) while the camera tilts down to follow him into darkness. It’s the moment that proves there’s moviemaking going on. Tsai didn’t just set up the camera and walk away; our hero is being filmed. The effect is a kind of inversion of Koyaanisqatsi; in that film, we sat still while the world moved around us at breakneck speed. Here, the usual pace of life feels wildly sped up thanks to our focus on the painfully deliberate monk. (Shout-out to the wisenheimer who posted a 6-minute speedrun of the film, as though Tsai had turned the reins over to Godfrey Reggio).

Amazingly, this is but one entry in the Slow-Moving Monk Cinematic Universe. Tsai has released 10 films featuring Lee’s walker since 2011. (The latest, Abiding Nowhere, premiered this past February.) Xi You is noteworthy as one of the longest entries in the series, but it also stands out for the dramatic contrast it presents with Lavant’s character, a despondent man who eventually seeks some measure of solace by adopting a meditative frame of mind. The movie opens with an intense focus on Lavant’s craggy, disconsolate features, as Tsai demonstrates that pain and grief can be equally slow, equally all-consuming. But Lee serves as an angel of hope, almost invisible but omnipresent in Lavant’s darkest moments, so that when we see Lavant trailing the monk in the penultimate scene (there are 14 shots in the course of 52 minutes), his embrace of the hyperfocused life becomes a moment of triumph.

Tsai’s film was not the only one to come out around this time borrowing a title and inspiration from the legendary Chinese epic. While Stephen Chow’s action/comedy is considerably faster-paced, Tsai’s is arguably just as eventful. Xi You feels strange because its sense of time is so out of sync with the world, but that’s precisely the point. Will the monk ever get where’s he’s going? Maybe he’s on his way to Halberstadt to catch John Cage’s grand finale. Even if it takes that long, the thrill will be in the journey, the patient and deliberate journey.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“… a sort of poetic zen burlesque, halfway between Buster Keaton, Andy Warhol, performance art and Jacques Tati…” – Jorge Mourinha, The Flickering Wall (contemporaneous)

(This movie was nominated for review by Brad. Suggest a weird movie of your own here.)

Stray Dogs / Journey to the West - 2-DVD Set ( Jiao you / Xi you ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - France ]

Stray Dogs / Journey to the West - 2-DVD Set ( Jiao you / Xi you ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - France ]
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FANTASIA 2024: APOCRYPHA CANDIDATE: INFINITE SUMMER (2024)

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DIRECTED BY: Miguel Llansó

FEATURING: Teele Kaljuvee-O’Brock, Johanna Rosin, Hannah Gross, Ciaron Davies

PLOT: Mia, an anthropology student partying with her friends for one last summer, finds her revels sabotaged by the mysterious and powerful mood app, “Eleusis.”

Still from Infinite Summer (2024)

WHY IT MIGHT MAKE THE APOCRYPHA: Though not as dingbat nutso as Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway, Llansó’s latest film examines the promise and dangers of technology with plenty of pizzazz, paranormality, and purple gasses.

COMMENTS: Had someone like Ray Bradbury written this, its title could well have been The New Zoo Will Be Free from Suffering. Miguel Llansó, however, has more of a playful—and optimistic—streak than many science fiction writers. His new film is grounded in a realistic here and now, and indeed its opening act plays like a simple coming of age story about three young woman who have just graduated. But as the filmmaker says, “I am no psychologist,” and his deeply rooted bent toward the techno-fantastic quickly rears its head, sending his protagonists and the viewer on a strange and sinister ride through a purple cloud of menace.

This menace (or promise?) is dubbed “Eleusis.” As explained by its chirpy, casual AI guide, it claims to be a guided meditation app. Doctor Mindfulness, who probably isn’t an actual doctor, brings this questionable product—the program’s delivery system is a vapor-cartridge loaded in breathing mask—to Mia and her buddies, who are rightly hesitant about trusting some sketchy beardo they meet on the  “Extreme Dating” VR app. Doctor Mindfulness’ insistence overcomes Mia’s trepidation, and the next thing we know, Mia gives Eleusis a try, and begins exploring the possibilities of the purple dust vortex projected in the aether. Her friends overcome their hesitation, too, and under the guidance of the good “doctor,” push the tech to its meditative, orgasmic extremes. Then events take a turn for the worse.

Seeing as we’re watching a speculative science fiction film, it’s reasonable to guess that the changes and effects from a nebulous nebula aren’t going to be good; but seeing as we’re watching a Llansó film, it’s also reasonable to guess that things are going to get a bit wild. Having emphasized the color scheme, I won’t be giving too much away when I say this movie makes mention of the pineal gland, which is stimulated to both summon Eleusis from beyond, and suck in the app users when they reach a certain level of “transcendence.” Eleusis is disarming, with a bubbly feminine voice, often ending its sentences with a reassuring “yo!” to emphasize how hip and harmless it is. It’s a fascinating creature, with a mesmerizing interface—and also a deep cave of lightning and purple that may hold the answers Mia seeks after her friends begin changing.

A compelling character roster fleshes out Llansó’s probe into this theoretical. Mia’s father is an easy-going artist, with his authority tempered by his insecurities. Doctor Mindfulness hits all the notes for a techno-optimist, following the instructions of Eleusis without question. And a pair of Interpol agents add an eccentric buddy-cop element: one of them is both always late, and always eating the other’s food. Infinite Summer has much to offer, much of it in a purple haze. In Mia, Llansó captures our obsession with the past; in the hungry Interpol agent, he captures our enchainment to the present; and in Eleusis, he imagines a future gathering place, between reality and the void: a new zoo, which will be free from some suffering.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“Infinite Summer distinguishes itself with a mesmerizing soundtrack and meticulously crafted visual effects that heighten the surreal atmosphere of the narrative.” – Chris Jones, Overly Honest Reviews (festival screening)

Capsules

CAPSULE: WERNER HERZOG: RADICAL DREAMER (2022)

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Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer can be rented or purchased on-demand.

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DIRECTED BY: Thomas von Steinaecker

FEATURING: Werner Herzog

PLOT: Talking heads and archival footage come together to explore the career of Werner Herzog.

COMMENTS: I recall reading a review of a Herzog film from some years ago in which the critic dismissed the director as riding his own coattails for a good long while. But here’s the thing: this is Herzog, and he’s allowed to do what he wants. Even if he weren’t allowed, he’d do it anyway—a point made firmly, but gently, in Thomas Von Steinaecker’s Radical Dreamer. Combining the traditional mix of archival footage, eager talking heads, and conversations with the director-subject, this ninety minutes breezes by compellingly and informatively, painting a picture of this pleasantly non-traditional artist detailed enough for nearly any Herzog-habitué.

Steinaecker benefits not only from having a chattily obliging subject—Herzog’s wit, openness, and slightly non-sequitur way of thinking makes him always interesting to observe—but also from those “eager talking heads”, which proved an impressive line-up. , , Carl Weathers, , and , as well as his two brothers (finding that there are in fact three Herzog boys, all alive and well, was a delight): all had intelligent, and impressed-but-not-sycophantic remarks to deliver.  Bale, in particular, provides a font of amusing, unlikely observations; for example, “Look at Werner’s face, right? He’s got a good face. A really fascinating face.” These contemporary conversations, paired with archival footage of most of Herzog’s major projects, provide a thorough summary of the man and his career without overwhelming the viewer with minutiae.

Just before the documentary went to credits, the screen froze at a perfect moment during the wrap-up. Herzog appeared in the first season of “The Mandalorian” as, you might say, an evil version of himself. Seated across from the titular bounty hunter, Herzog’s character is chiding the other, arguing the pointlessness of the revolution. “I see nothing but death and chaos.” And in a way, that sums up Herzog’s view—as perceived by a dark soul. Werner Herzog, as illustrated amply during interviews throughout his life, as testified by countless creatives who have worked with and under him, and as shown, grandly and obliquely, through so much of his work, is not “dark,” however. There is death to life; there is chaos to life. But being intrinsic to these elements, there is also gentleness and wonderment.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“The true value of Thomas von Steinaecker’s thorough feature documentary is the ease with which he has Werner on-side. The true test of a biographical documentary of this nature is the depth of investment by its subject. Herzog is at total ease with Steinaecker’s camera.” — Chris Greenwood, A Sliver of Film (contemporaneous)