Vulcanizadora

Regional film making can be rich and rewarding. It can cast a light and use a very specific voice to say something unique about the area and the people within it. It can also use that region to tell a universal story. Vulcanizadora, tries to be both and does not fully succeed at either. It is not uniquely attuned to the people and places it takes place-despite some wonderful scenery and on-location photography-nor is it deep enough with its universal themes to truly set itself apart from other, similar works.

Courtesy Oscillosope

This is a film that has some wisdom and truth, but is not itself wise. It is, indeed, rather plain and straight-forward, which is both to the detriment and benefit of the film. It is a film that you will see every beat coming, or think you will. Most of the suspense here comes not from what naturally occurs but how it tries to subvert expectations. As negative as this all sounds, the film is not without merit. While its low budget and semi-professional level supporting cast is readily apparent, there is yet a naturalism here that could work, under the right circumstances.

 The film centers on two men, Derek and Martin, who have gone into the woods in Michigan, in order to seal a pact both have made. Derek seems rather down on his luck, but energetic and goofy, while Martin is dour, and, recently released from jail, intent on finishing the mysterious pact between the two men. For the first half hour of the film, you get to see these two fool around in the woods, testing various objects for destructive capabilities.

Courtesy Oscillosope

Eventually, their pact becomes clear, and while it is no real twist, you begin to see other, also very obvious, tensions and potential for drama. The film goes pretty much where you think it will, but once there, how it handles the last half hour or so of the film, is where it tries hard to separate itself from the pack and fails. Instead of becoming the ethical and moral play it seems to want to be, the film plays out as bit of a thriller, where you wonder if the outcome of earlier events will have any resolution or impact at all.

In a way, this is two films in one, with neither being overtly bad nor especially worthwhile. You will come to care for the characters, as much as you might also be annoyed or angry toward them. The film does manage to elicit empathy, without ever condoning the actions within the work, a mean feat for independent cinema, which all too often seeks to justify every action of their characters and judge the audience for disagreeing. It is refreshing this film knows better than to do that, given what it is trying to say.

Courtesy Oscillosope

This is as film that should have benefited from a small cast of characters, but which ultimately wastes a lot of time with weirdness when character has already been firmly established. This uneven approach unbalances a film that strives to be greater than the sum of its parts, yet which cannot rise above mere adequacy.  The film also brings back a character from writer, director and co-star Joel Potrykus’s previous film, Buzzard, as the main focus of the film. Both he and Joshua Burger, manage a certain gritty, grubby, lived in realism, allowing the seediest part of these characters to exist alongside some deeply human, all too real pain. It is a shame the film seems unable to land the knockout punch it certainly contains, instead dodging and weaving around what might have been true greatness, or at least, good enough.

Vulcanizadora is now available on digital.