Review of Shades

Introduction

Films about the film business must be a good idea. The wealth of material and biting satire available to any potential filmmaker has hardly been touched, despite successful films like Get Shorty. The cutthroat world of Hollywood and the associated tales of corporate backbiting and the casting couch are legend among gossip rags, so I guess it`s something of a surprise that more films aren`t made about the subject. Shades is a European-American co production about this very subject, aiming to give a cutting satirical expose into the harsh world of Hollywood, or rather Antwerp.

Belgian mass murderer Freddy Lebecq is a notorious criminal in Belgium, whose own memoirs written in prison have only added to the notoriety. To set the balance straight, the relatives of his victims have reluctantly sold the rights to their stories in an effort to set the record straight in a small reverential home grown film about their suffering. Step in lawyer turned producer Max Vogel, who sees the chance to hit the big time and calls in a has been American Director Paul Sullivan looking for a last shot at the big time, and a washed up American Star Dylan Cole to lend weight to the film, as well as turning up the exploitation to rake in the money. Naturally legal problems with the bereaved families arise when they learn of the change in emphasis. To make matters worse, Dylan Cole is an alcoholic method actor who keeps rubbing the director up the wrong way, the co-star is sleeping her way to the top, and the producer resorts to some rather unsavoury marketing techniques to sell the film after Cole takes an overdose. Meanwhile, Lebecq sees his chance at parole vanish in the glare of publicity that the film causes, and breaks out to seek a little vengeance.

Video

Absolutely abysmal! I had the suspicion that Shades was shot on Digital Video to get some kind of pseudo verité feel, but IMDB and the end credits, as well as a hint of print damage insist that it was shot on good old 35mm. Nevertheless the film is artefact ridden, low resolution, low contrast, murky and difficult to make out. The image ghosts whenever there is any kind of movement on screen, and it feels like you are watching through a thick fog. The ratio is an odd one, something like 1.78:1 letterbox, but it`s hardly worth zooming in. For one thing, it makes the image quality geometrically worse, and for another zooming would place the burnt in subtitles off screen whenever there was any Flemish dialogue.

It`s one of the worst transfers I have seen yet, and made me nostalgic for VHS.

Audio

The sound is a single DD 2.0 Stereo soundtrack in English and Flemish. The dialogue is a little muffled occasionally, usually when Mickey Rourke is on screen. There are burnt in English subtitles when the Flemish dialogue is audible.

Features

Just the trailer. The disc is Region 0 by the way.

Conclusion

Antwerp isn`t Hollywood, it isn`t even close. The story seems promising enough, with a trawl through the dark side of film making, the unsavoury characters, from manipulative directors, needy actors and greedy producers and lawyers, trampling over decency in an effort to carve out their own little piece of fame and fortune. But Shades handles it with a clumsy ineptness and a heavy hand that makes watching the film a chore. That`s not good when you already have to make sense of the dismal excuse for a transfer. I was sat in front of the TV for the better part of 100 minutes wishing I were watching Bowfinger.

The performances are uneven and patchy. The most annoying has to be Gene Bervoets turn as the producer Max Vogel, whose grasp of profanity is limited to one word, which he repeats ad infinitum. It`s either that or he`s spouting "Capische!" (sic) at his employees, like all big Hollywood producers do apparently. Andrew Howard is pretty dismal as Dylan Cole, and his big dramatic moment, just before he ODs is laughable. Mickey Rourke, advertised as the star of the film gives an amazing non-performance as Paul Sullivan, mumbling his way through much of the film and barely making his presence felt, although his wasted appearance is shocking. Indeed the DVD uses a completely unrelated promotional picture as its menu, with actor looking marginally healthy.

It`s not an absolutely waste of celluloid, as some of the satire does hit the right spot, although it does so with a 40-pound sledgehammer where a mild rap with a school ruler will suffice. The story, obvious as it is, does manage to make a confused point, which will come as no surprise to anyone. The film industry can be exploitative, filled with mercenary characters out for a quick buck, with only the big players getting rich, and leaving a trail of human detritus behind.

Just when you think it`s all over, it hits you with a horrendously cheesy self-referential moment as an Anne Robinson style palsied wink to the audience. It`s at this point that I wish I had something to throw at the screen. A germ of a good idea is brought to the screen in a miasmic mess, both in terms of the script and the image transfer. It`s one to avoid unless your curiosity outweighs your common sense.