Review: New Brooklyn (2008)

[Steve Rhodes]

NEW BROOKLYN
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2009 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****):  *** 1/2

Let's be honest here.  Indie filmmaking is hard, really hard, at least if 
your goal is to get just about everything right, as NEW BROOKLYN does. 
Usually, when attempting to enjoy an indie film, viewers have to decide how 
much they are willing to put up with the limitations of the production, bad 
lighting, amateurish cast or miserable music.  The audience generally has to 
decide if it can like the movie warts and all and to decide if certain less 
satisfactory parts of it are worth putting up with.

NEW BROOKLYN, written and directed by Christopher Cannucciari, gives viewers 
a consistently satisfying film experience, which works on every level. 
Deserving special mention is the hauntingly beautiful music by Kyle Bobby 
Dunn, which uses the piano to maximum advantage, and the cinematography by 
Mark Karinja, which is lush and inviting, full of beautifully oversaturated 
primary colors.  In short, the movie is a treat for all of your senses.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't some big movie which was miraculously shot on 
a shoestring budget.  This movie is a character study of some characters, 
most especially the lead, that you'll end up caring a lot about.

All -- not just some -- of the performances are touching and genuine, but 
Blanca Lewin, as Marta Piro, steals the movie.  An award winning television 
actress with her own show ("Lola") in Chile, she gives a captivating 
performance that will have you glued to the screen watching her.  She is 
good in every scene, but, when she has dialog-free moments of intense 
sadness, be ready to have your heart break with her, as her emotions are 
palpable.

As the story begins, we watch as some cute young women in their twenties and 
thirties swap small talk at some upscale looking club, presumably in 
Brooklyn, given the film's title.  Marta is one of these women who are 
laughing the night away.

But, back at the apartment owned by Angela (Shelley Thomas) and Angela's 
brother Eddie (Frank Harts) where Marta is staying temporarily, she is a 
different person.  With an intense sadness and some hidden troubles, Marta 
is accused of moping around too much by her friend and coffee shop co-worker 
Lisa (Kat Ross).  Marta's life is a mixture of happiness and sadness.  Or is 
it?  Could it just be that she is despondent, but, being a good actress, is 
able to hide her troubles behind a fetching smile?

Marta, it seems, is a woman with her life on hold.  She moved from Chile to 
get work as an actress in New York, but she spends all of her free time 
talking about and waiting for her boyfriend, Alvaro (Pablo Cerda), to join 
her from Chile.  Once he arrives, however, he is so supremely uninterested 
in her that he rarely makes eye contact with her and bolts from the 
apartment as soon as he dumps his stuff on the bed.

There is some good news in Marta's life.  She lands a lead role in a very 
low budget film, where Brad Steward (Matt Cavenaugh, soon to be seen on 
Broadway in a remake of "West Side Story") is part of the crew.  Brad sees 
that special spark in Marta's eyes that others miss, so he tries, with 
little luck, to get her to go out with him.

There is so much more to the story, including some mysterious figure who 
drives an old muscle car, something like a 1970s Dodge Charger.  This black, 
ominous car with its driver hidden in the shadows keeps showing up, stalking 
Marta and robbing her of a chance at the happiness she so clearly deserves.

This exquisitely constructed film ends as perfectly as it began.  It's a 
real jewel.

NEW BROOKLYN flies by at just 1:22.  It is mainly in English, there is some 
Spanish with English subtitles as well.

The film is being shown as part of San Jose's Cinequest Film Festival 
(www.Cinequest.org), which runs February 25-March 8, 2009.

Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
Email: Steve.Rhodes at InternetReviews.com

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