FFWD Weekly
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Film by Jaime Frederick Johnny Starring Chris Martin and Gema Zamprogna Directed by Carl Bessai Plays Saturday, Oct. 14, 7:30 p.m. Uptown Screen When Danish filmmakers Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg penned their Dogma 95 manifesto in an attempt to revive cinema from its sensationalist stupor, they couldn’t possibly have imagined the international frenzy they would create among filmmakers who seemed to be waiting for the formal and artistic challenges this somewhat esoteric set of rules would place before them. While the Danes’ "rescue action," as they called it, has not yet delivered cinema entirely from evil, it has prompted many directors to question the standard methods of film production and to rethink the way they make movies altogether. Vancouver’s Carl Bessai has the distinction of being the first Canadian to complete a feature film in accordance with the tenets of Dogma, and he will be in Calgary this weekend for a single screening of his debut feature film, Johnny, and to lead a workshop in conjunction with the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers’ ongoing visiting artist series. An articulate and outspoken critic of contemporary cinema, Bessai is keen to explain the reasons he decided to make a film following Dogma manifesto. "Really, Dogma is like a serious joke between two people in a bar. It’s as simple as that. These aren’t maybe all the best ways to make movies, but as an experiment, try making a film where you don’t light, where you put the camera on your shoulder, where you don’t include superficial action." The last of these criteria may be the least precise of the manifesto’s stipulations, but Bessai states that it forced him to acknowledge certain dramatic flaws in his script, and to challenge his abilities as a narrative filmmaker. "I’m trying to make films with strong thematic content about how we live, how we communicate, about our identity," he says. Bessai goes on to explain that he has conceived of a trilogy that begins with Johnny, and he’s in pre-production on the second one, Lola, right now. "(These films) take place in three distinct phases along the line of a life. At each of these points, these characters are fucking up and they have to deal with a question of their identity." Johnny tells the story of squeegee kids living hand to mouth in downtown Toronto, where the film was shot on location in the winter of 1998 and early 1999. Its title character, played to unsettling effect by Chris Martin, is a downtrodden Svengali figure who abuses and humiliates the other characters in his gang to assert his dominance. A chameleon who assumes different qualities to establish control over any given situation, Johnny isn’t the most likable character – nor is he totally unrecognizable. "It’s a film about that power struggle and that power structure that really everyone in every relationship deals with on some level. Whether it’s your boss at work, or your girlfriend at home, or your brother, it’s human nature to be always coming into contact with someone and trying to assess the balance of power between you." While this may seem a fairly cynical vision of human relationships, Bessai is quick to note that few filmmakers ever use their talent to focus on the unknown or uncomfortable elements of life. This is reflected in the way their films are made, too. And as an artists he takes issue with this complacency. "I’m trying to train myself to think instinctually about filmmaking instead of taking the premeditated approach. You’re taught in film school that you storyboard everything. Prepare, prepare, prepare! Know this stuff in advance! Don’t have any questions! In my opinion, that’s bullshit." It’s no wonder Bessai found the strictures of Dogma so appealing, but he also recognizes that his approach is rooted in kino-pravda, cinéma verité , and in the films of great directors like Antonioni and Cassavetes. He also thinks the distinctions between documentaries and dramatic films are erroneous. "The idea where you import the energy, spontaneity and reactive quality of documentary into a dramatic film is fascinating. It gives the film an urgency. "If you say documentary is truth, that’s bullshit. I mean, a documentary is a director’s point of view. So is drama. I don’t see a big distinction. I’m telling you a story. Even if I do have some facts right, it’s still my position, and if I’m boring you with facts and not engaging you with a character portrait or an emotional narrative, I’ve fucked up." With Johnny, Bessai exemplifies this attitude by requiring his actors to do a lot of improvisation, and to remain in character the whole time they were shooting. The spontaneous nature of the production – filming without permits in downtown Toronto – demanded that his cast be ready to perform at a moment’s notice, allowing them little down time in between takes. It also meant they had to accommodate the unexpected reactions of passers-by, curious about the film being created in their midst. "It’s surprising how interesting the real street is as opposed to the fabricated street with extras being cued. Literally, so what if someone looks at the lens? If someone gets pissed off, they get pissed off. If you get kicked off the street, you get kicked off." Despite statements like these, Bessai’s guerilla style of filmmaking is not just extremism for its own sake. He really is in pursuit of a better way to make movies, a more engaging way to tell stories. "I think less about Dogma as I think about this notion of a kind of instinctual cinema, cinéma verité, or direct cinema, whatever you want to call it. These kinds of things have been around for a while but keep getting redefined, reinvented, reasserted. I think that’s what those crazy Danes were up to."

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