April Is My Religion

Rating:
Summary: April is my Religion
Review: For those who've loved cutting edge independent/underground films for the last decade or so, the name Film Threat carries much weight. Under their VHS line of movies from the early to mid 90's, they introduced the world to some of the most amazing and brutal movies imaginable. Directors like Jim Van Bebber, Richard Kern, Jorg Buttgereit, Nick Zedd and many more had films distributed by FT. Now they are finally getting their DVD line underway and I watched one called April is my Religion last night.

April is my Religion is the first movie by a guy named Bill Boll. He started a novel by the same name and got frustrated by the limitations of the written word for this particular story and wrote a screenplay from the fragment of the novel and self financed a digital film for under $10,000. After a lot of praise at film festivals, Film Threat acquired April is my Religion for distribution.

Since the digital "film" revolution began a few years ago, far too many have created over the top gore films that lack guts, or parodies using the new medium. If I had a dollar for every digital Star Wars spoof that I've heard of, I wouldn't be a rich man, but I could buy a damned nice steak dinner with it. Bill Boll did what every passionate and intelligent filmmaker does: he started with a script that was smart and was definitely about something.

April is my Religion stars off with a freshman in college who has no real social life and spends way too much time studying. After meeting up with a group of seniors who share a house nearby the campus, he is introduced to marijuana, hard liquor, LSD and a beautiful and intelligent student named April Polanski (!). The student, Jack, falls hopelessly in love, as April appeals to his mind, heart and body. Jack gradually gets lost in a world of booze and drugs as his obsession for April grows. It comes to a peak during a strong acid trip and Boll uses digital technology to create the most vivid psychedelic hallucinations I've ever seen in any film. This comes from a guy who knows firsthand what an acid trip is like (me).

Jack eventually realizes that he is far from the only one who is in love with April. She is described by one of the guys as a viral personality that hijacks the emotions of a group of people. The difference is, while the others can adapt and accept April in a platonic fashion and maintain their grades and lives, Jack can not. His personal life continues to deteriorate and he loses all touch with himself. I really admire the way Bill Boll avoids any kind of sensational climax and concludes the story in a believable manner. There are no suicides or bloodshed, yet it is even more awful and sad this way.

The screenplay was inspired by events that Bill Boll experienced in his own college years in the late 1980s. The smart dialog and above par acting belie and overcome the movie's minuscule budget. Since watching April is my Religion last night, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it and I had dreams that were inspired by it all night. If that's not the measure of a good film, I don't know what is.

Rating:
Summary: April should be your religion
Review: You know what I love about the DV revolution? It's so punk rock. The idea of demystifying filmmaking--reducing the diety of the director to a kid with a camcorder. It's the DIY ethic I respect so much. You don't have to be special, rich, or have connections, you just have to have a good idea.

What I don't love about the DV revolution is that some people who take part in it DON'T always have such good ideas. We complain about Hollywood, because they churn out movies with no pride or passion. And yet so many indie movies also prove that old axiom, "Just because you CAN make a movie doesn't mean you SHOULD."

Still, the DV revolution had to happen just so films like "April Is My Religion" could get made. Director Bill Boll gave an introduction and explain a bit about how he began writing the story as a novel, but then decided to do a feature film. I'm not complaining about this introduction, and it was nice to hear a little bit about how the film came to be. But the truth is, I didn't need to be told, because it is obvious from watching the film that this story, and these characters are something he has put a lot of thought into. There is not one, single character in this entire movie who is one dimensional. They all act just like someone you might know. This is also partially due to the strength of his cast. He was clearly able to find "unknown" actors with talent who got into their roles because they loved to act.

Jack is an 18 year old college freshman who pays more attention to his school work than his fellow students. Almost accidently, he is taken in by a group of 3 older students, Phil, Wade, and April, who live together in a student house. He gradually gets more involved in their world of college partying, which is portrayed every bit as innocent, and corrupt as it really is. This is not a movie that glorifies drugs, in any sense, and does not portray it as "good clean fun." At the same time, it's not some "Go Ask Alice" type thing, and shows how young people are when they're on their own, but don't really have to take responsibility for anything.

As he spends more time at the house, Jack steadily begins to fall for April. She is an intelligent, witty non-conformist, who says what she thinks, and engages in sometimes interesting and sometimes pretentious discussions with anyone who will listen. She is just like so many women I knew in college. When Jack's crush gets out of hand, Phil reveals in a confrontation between all four of them, "We're all in love with April."

I found this dynamic interesting, because he had said earlier, "April is the only person I know who doesn't care about social obligations or expectations." When Jack points out that Wade and Phil himself could both be described that way, Phil replies, "Yes, but we got that from her. She infected us like a virus." However, I observed their characters and said to myself, gee, it seems more like she's a non-conformist girl surrounded by lonely, non-conformist boys. All of the characteristics described were certainly part of her. But Phil admitted that they were also part of himself, and Wade. If April had been a guy, or unattractive, they probably would have seen that person as someone else who was just like them, and never even noticed those things. It wasn't exactly love, but imposing what they wanted from a partner onto April.

I didn't watch the commentary, so I don't know, maybe Bill Boll did think all 3 guys truly loved April. But that isn't the point. The point is that a male writer/director has created a female character that is so real that I have my own interpretation of who and what she is. He didn't just write a story to make a statement about how people are. He created real characters.

Another minor character of note is the hall advisor. She is so much like the hall advisor in every dorm I've lived in. When Jack is starting not to look so good, she says, "when I was a freshman, I saw so many of my friends throw their lives away with pills and booze, and when I'd show concern, all they told me was, 'it's none of your business.'" A lot of directors would have used this character as mere comic relief, and yes, it would be pretty funny. Uh, yeah, I got drunk last night, and I was hungover so I missed class. The doctors say it's just a phase I'm going through, and it's called COLLEGE! Some people do have drinking problems, but for most people, getting smashed at a campus party is nothing worse than a waste of time. The over-dramatic language she uses is very effective, but the scene does not downplay her genuine concern for Jack's well being.

This movie has notoriety for portraying the most realistic acid trip ever seen on film, and the fact that it's a DV movie makes that claim even more impressive. Buy this movie for that scene. Watch it again and again for everything else.