Fantasia ’14 Review: OPEN WINDOWS

Now that Fantasia is “of legal age”, I find it fitting that Fantasia 18 + would put itself front a webcam and feature a short retrospective on voyeuristic “cybereality” films. Something about putting yourself in front of that little blinking light that gets those juices flowing; catching a glimpse of something you weren’t supposed to see.

The first of two films on the subject was Nacho Vogalondo’s Open Windows, a bat-shit crazy “long take” cat and mouse chase film told through the perspective of a computer screen. Starring Elijah Wood as Nick Chambers, a pasty, wiry webmaster who has dedicated his life to a webpage in tribute of his favorite starlet Jill Goddard, played by someone who is ironically perfectly at ease with her fans’ many prying eyes, Sasha Grey.

Nick wins a contest that flies him down to Austin to meet the object of his affection. As his meet and greet with Ms. Goddard gets de-railed, it quickly become apparent that Nick has gotten himself involved witn something a little more sinister than a few upskirt pictures and a nipslip. The story unfolds through the perspective of Nicks laptop screen and what starts off as an interesting premise gets convoluted pretty quickly: not because of all the madness that ensues, but because of a simple lack of mastery and execution in the method used to capture this craziness onscreen. Which is fine, I always encourage risk taking, even if it doesn’t pay off in the end.

Gilding the lily comes to mind as a pretty straightforward bait and switch thriller gets muddled with the inclusion of unnecessary visual elements that go beyond simply breaching that fourth wall. It pulled me out of the film altogether. As this roller coaster careens from one scene to the next, the viewer is asked repeatedly to suspend its disbelief and just go along for the ride. Which is great, until the film starts to break its own rules and turns into a bit of a jumbled mess towards the end, completely ejecting the viewer from what is supposed to be a type of first person perspective.

Viewers and filmmakers alike have started to turn against this whole POV subgenre, demanding more than at simple “found footage” schtick (which this film thankfully isn’t). Films like the one Nacho tried to make here seem more suited for the selfie, camgirl, Youtube generation. It is not “POV”, but back in that dynamic form of third person storytelling, front of the camera (sometimes not), to eventually be scrutinized through the perspective of the computer screen.

When this film works though, it works great. Suspenseful, intriguing, even playful, all the elements of a good and thrilling murder mystery. When it fails however, it fails like a boss. Open Windows sometimes has trouble hiding between the pegs of the many spinning plates it puts into motion, wobbling dreadfully and basically crashing all at the same time when the credits start to roll.

To truly be lost in the world of cinema, you must understand that film does not obey the same physical limitations as reality. Continuity, use of technology, character logic, that’s all for the screenplay to establish and for the director to make its own. Herein lies the danger, because even if viewers are able to become absorbed with a vision in its entirety, they are just as easily expulsed, or even aborted, from the experience when things no longer match up. Unfortunately, Open Windows is just too ambitious and loses its credibility fast. As Nick zips from one Rube Goldberg device to the next, in one continuous take, the viewer becomes distanced from something that should be pulling them in closer and closer, considering the voyeuristic perspective chosen for the whole affair.

That being said, as a late night thriller, it’s a lot of fun. Elijah Wood is killing it with the weirdo personas he seems to seek out these days (Maniac was a personal favorite of mine, another POV type film) and Sasha Grey really uses her “I’m so sick of this shit” natural look to her advantage. It’s never clear if she’s putting on an act or if she just showed up to the set to be herself. I actually mean this as a complement.

Credit needs to be given for attempting something fresh and new. Comparisons to Rear Window abound, as Nick is desperately trying to stop something he accidentally came across but that is much larger than his little reality, but his film also alludes to other works, such as the prank perspective of Spike Jone’s Jackass work, not to mention what Matt Reeves did with Cloverfield.

This is not a first step but an interesting lesson learned for driving this type of narrative further. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some lessons to lean myself on Chaturbate.

So long sunshine, I’m out!

Jo “looking at you” Satana