looking for something

i remember being particularly charmed by this trailer a couple of years ago when i came across it on itunes movie trailers. i had recently moved to vancouver, so i made the assumption that it would make it to theatres here. i waited. and waited. and waited.

until two days ago, when i finally got to watch this lanky 70 minute film by josh safdie on dvd.

i'm not entirely convinced that it was worth the waiting and obsessing but it is definitely a charming, oddly melancholy and weirdly affecting film. although my initial feelings were of distaste, i haven't really stopped thinking about the film since i watched it.

the film centres on eleonore, a new york feral compelled by her kleptomania. unfortunately, that's about as much plot as you're going to get in this film - there's a guy named josh, an impromptu detour to Boston and a curious fantasy sequence involving a polar bear.

sadly, i just kept waiting for something to happen throughout the film, strangely compelled by elenore's pervasive search for something. from cars to dogs to plucking grapes from grocery store shelves, she never seems to find what she's looking for but she continues to look and take. there doesn't seem to be any character development - the eleonore you meet at the beginning of the film is the same eleonore you say goodbye to at the end. you never learn much about her or why she does what she does.

when the film ended, i felt unsatisfied. however, the always appealing new york back drop, the unrelenting childlike allure of eleonore and a pretty solid soundtrack makes it an interesting enough film to watch - just don't expect to walk away with much.