An American Crime (Tommy O'Haver 2007)

[domino harvey]

An American Crime

Sounds like an interesting vehicle for two of our better female stars, despite the (putting it mildly) lukewarm reception it's received post-festival. Fair warning, the real life recap of the events portrayed is unbelievably horrific.

[a.khan]

I read that Wikipedia page. It scared the shit out of me. (Guess I fail the butch Spartans' Man Test.)

What particularly disturbed me was the matter-of-factness of the torture. The everyday abuse of a little girl by a crazy, Bible-thumping woman reads like a bad Giallo exploitation flick. (Plus, I would blame the author for bringing a kind of trashy, pulpy feel to the verbiage.)

I've always thought that it's challenging to treat such vicious psychopaths in a narrative film without making them -- in some small way -- human, you know, even likable. A documentary format is better suited to such subjects where the maker's natural urge to shock or pontificate gets diluted by the form.

[domino harvey]

Not surprisingly, it looks like First Look has abandoned any hope of releasing this theatrically and it will make it's DVD debut in February

[Dylan]

Directly after reading the depressing, horrible story at wiki, I watched the trailer, which visually and (amazingly) tonally resembles the images the wiki entry painted in my mind. I'm stunned at how perfectly realized and horrific this appears to be.

From Protest film:

This extraordinary account of a series of real events that took place in 1965 in the Indiana home of Gertrude Baniszewski is one of the most frightening films I have seen in a long time. Catherine Keener is astonishing as the deranged single mother of a large brood who takes in her itinerant neighbours' two daughters for some much-needed extra cash and proceeds to torture and eventually destroy the older girl, played by Ellen Page.

American critics, a delicate breed, hated it. And while they were right to question the title (there's nothing particularly American about the crime), to call it an "artistic nullity" as trade mag Variety did is ludicrous. This is bold film-making that strong-arms the viewer into confronting hideous truths that can arise from mental frailty and peer pressure.

A shame about the lack of a theatrical distribution, but hopefully it will play in some of the bigger cities. I'm very interested in seeing it.

[jesus the mexican boi]

"Who's in charge here?"
"You are, momma."

Wow. Looks well-shot, too. One of the things that impressed me about O'Haver's BILLY'S HOLLYWOOD SCREEN KISS was the cinematography. He and his DP really took advantage of the 2:35:1 aspect ratio, and appear to have done that here as well. Well-composed, based on the trailer. Keener looks amazing. Still, a hard sell based on the non-sexy subject matter. You can see why they're dumping this one on DVD.

[LeeB.Sims]

God, that wikipedia page made me feel really dirty. This is probably one of the first cases where I can't really blame American distributors for balking. I would pay someone to not make me watch this film. I know it would have an audience with some and it may very-well be an important movie, but I'm sure the majority of America would feel like me. Yikes. Just icky. Consider this, if it was fiction, the teenage torture-porn junkies responsible for making the Saw and Hostel franchises so successful would eat it up and distributors would be clamoring over it.

[flyonthewall2983]

God, that wikipedia page made me feel really dirty. This is probably one of the first cases where I can't really blame American distributors for balking. I would pay someone to not make me watch this film.

I completely agree. After reading the wiki page, I had no interest in sitting for two hours watching something I felt uncomfortable reading in ten minutes.

[domino harvey]

Apparently someone felt compelled to tell this story twice.

Ellen Page's newfound celebrity has saved this movie from direct to DVD status, as it's now on track for a theatrical release in June 2008 =D>

[Dylan]

Great to hear! Six months seems like a long wait to see it, but for a film as important and as fascinating as An American Crime seems, a theatrical release is mandatory.

[Magic Hate Ball]

This looks good. Hopefully it'll go right up there with Blue Velvet and Funny Games as "most uncomfortable to watch".

Fair warning, the real life recap of the events portrayed is unbelievably horrific.

I think that's the first time I've ever vehemently wanted someone to die a horrible, horrible death. Lung cancer my ass.

[Dylan]

This looks good. Hopefully it'll go right up there with Blue Velvet and Funny Games as "most uncomfortable to watch"

Well, it definitely won't be surreal (like Blue Velvet) or sensational (like Funny Games), and it doesn't seem like it will be terribly violent, either. This definitely appears to be far more sad and emotionally horrific territory, covering perhaps the most disturbing and harrowing true murder story I know of.

[domino harvey]

I'm hoping for an experience akin to Lilja 4-Ever-- depressing but still beautiful.

[Magic Hate Ball]

This looks good. Hopefully it'll go right up there with Blue Velvet and Funny Games as "most uncomfortable to watch"

Well, it definitely won't be surreal (like Blue Velvet) or sensational (like Funny Games), and it doesn't seem like it will be terribly violent, either. This definitely appears to be far more sad and emotionally horrific territory, covering perhaps the most disturbing and harrowing true murder story I know of.

All good things come in threes; I was referring more to the similar tones of the films (assuming American Crime's will be similar in tone); all three are (likely) disturbing and harrowing in similar ways.

[Jeff]

No theatrical release after all. This was posted a few days ago on director Tommy O'Haver's website:

So the word is out, and it is true — An American Crime will be premiering on Showtime later this year. Probably March or May. Many seem disappointed that there will be no theatrical release — this was certainly not the original plan, after all.

We had a very complicated situation with our distributor First Look. There were offers from other companies, but First Look wouldn’t sell the movie to a theatrical venue — they felt it was in their financial interest to retain DVD rights at all costs. At the same time, they did not want to spend any money on a theatrical release — even with Ellen Page’s recent Academy Award nomination! Quite simply, they felt the film’s subject matter was too dark to appeal to anyone. (We all know better.)

Anyway, thank God Showtime stepped in! They were willing to premiere the movie without taking the DVD rights.

[domino harvey]

Time to get cable

[miless]

hmm... this incident seems kind of similar to this case in Sacramento from many years ago when a woman began torturing and killing her children (and having the others participate), and (I believe) killing her husbands for financial gain. (I remember one vivid story where one of the surviving children told of her mother being jealous of her sister's skinny figure so she made a huge batch of macaroni and cheese and placed the scorching hot kettle in her lap and forced her to eat the whole thing).
Police were alarmed when they started discovering burnt bodies around several parks (but because there were no missing persons reports, the truth wasn't discovered until one of the daughters came out years after her mother had died).
I've been trying to remember the name for a while, but it escapes me at the moment.

[Antoine Doinel]

Download Petra Haden's song for the closing credits for the film here.

[CSM126]

I read the wiki article and watched the trailer and God do I regret it. That fucking Coke bottle is gonna be in my nightmares. Years ago I laughed at my Mom for being "too scared" to see Silence of the Lambs but now I think I know how she felt. I can't possibly watch this movie.

[domino harvey]

This will premiere on Showtime this Saturday, May 10.

[domino harvey]

Barebones DVD August 19

[sidehacker]

As the film opens, Sylvia Likens (Ellen Page) narrates how her life revolves around the carnival - both her parents work with the traveling carnival. Her favorite ride was the merry-go-round because while you don't get anywhere, you always feel safe.

So a torture movie with a touch of Malick?

[flyonthewall2983]

Has anyone seen it yet?

[kaujot]

My girlfriend has seen it. She hates movies like Hostel, etc., and said this wasn't too bad. Not that I was expecting it to be like Eli Roth, but it's the first comparison I came up with.

[flyonthewall2983]

That tells me enough. I must admit a small curiosity about the case because there aren't too many well-known crimes in my home state, although Gary remains one of the most violent cities in the country to my knowledge.

[Murdoch]

I just finished watching this on Showtime. While the film was fairly well-made, the performances were great and well-played, and with it being a true story it was incredibly devastating. I'm not going to hide the fact that I found this movie to be one of the most disturbing experiences I've had watching a film, maybe the most disturbing. The wiki summary does not do justice to how horrific this girl was treated and now that I reflect upon the events I feel this film to be a commentary on human nature in general, that this actually occurred and wasn't a product of the writer's mind, that these people committed torture and looked at Sylvia as a pile of meat. Multiple people - mostly children or teens - had a chance to help her, but they simply joined in on the torture, I just couldn't fathom how so many people stood idly by while this girl was essentially murdered over the course of months. What the film did well was to portray the people perpetrating the crime as actual people, instead of making them caricatures of monsters to make the viewer rally against them, and showed the children who hurt Sylvia as simply confused by Sylvia's suffering and their mother's continuous hatred toward her, as if they had no idea why this was happening but didn't want to disobey their sole parent. Also, Page perfectly conveyed her character's confusion toward what was happening to her and acted as a sort of proxy for the viewer's confusion toward the events as well, when she is accused of something she didn't do she looks around in a state of shock toward these people, which gradually shifts into a devastating indifference and even acceptance of what is happening. Keener's performance was also well-done, she adds a humanity to her role so that you don't hate her, you want to understand why she is doing what she is doing, what could possibly possess a person to believe that she is in the right while doing such horrible things?

And while I can definitely understand the Hostel reference, this wasn't just blind exploitation of violence, but more of a study of how violence manipulates and eventually, if carried on long enough, becomes the status quo.

All in all, I don't think I can handle watching this again, but I am glad I saw it, I don't quite know why, but I like to see a movie that will stay with me for a while. Anybody else seen it? I really want to hear others' thoughts.