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Southland Tales
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article or section contains information about one or more scheduled or expected films. The content may change as the film's release approaches and more information becomes available. |  |
| Southland Tales | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for Southland Tales |
|
| Directed by | Richard Kelly |
| Produced by | Sean McKittrick Bo Hyde Kendall Morgan |
| Written by | Richard Kelly |
| Starring | Dwayne Johnson Seann William Scott Sarah Michelle Gellar Miranda Richardson Janeane Garofalo Mandy Moore Jill Ritchie Cheri Oteri Amy Poehler Kevin Smith Jon Lovitz |
| Music by | Moby |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics (domestic), Universal Pictures (most foreign territories), Wild Bunch (France, Benelux, Spain and Switzerland) |
| Release date(s) | April 2007 (USA) |
| Running time | 137 mins. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$15 million |
| Official website | |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Southland Tales is a 2007 science fiction film, written and directed by Richard Kelly. Set in the near future, the film is a portrait of Los Angeles and a comment on the military-industrial newstainment complex. The film features an ensemble cast including Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Seann William Scott and Sarah Michelle Gellar. Film director, Kelly's friend Kevin Smith, who has a cult following of his own, is also part of the ensemble cast. Original music for the film will be provided by Moby.
The film premiered to polarized reviews at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 2006 as one of the films in competition. Sony recently announced its purchase of the film and, after Kelly delivers his new, slightly altered cut of the film, will decide which arm will distribute the film and when. On January 9, 2007, Box Office Mojo reported that the film was being distributed by Columbia Pictures,[1] however Sony has yet to make any official word about the development of the film.
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This futuristic film evokes the city of Los Angeles, after the Texas cities of El Paso and Abilene have fallen victim to twin nuclear attacks on July 4th, 2005, a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions which precipitates America into war. The Patriot Act has been upgraded to a new agency known as USIdent which keeps constant tabs on citizens even to the extent of censoring the internet and using fingerprints in order to access computers and bank accounts. In order to be able to respond to the fuel scarcity, the German company Treer designs a generator of inexhaustible energy which operates thanks to ocean currents. In this city on the brink of chaos, we follow the criss-crossed destinies of Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson), action film actor stricken with amnesia; Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar), ex-porn star in the midst of reconverting; and twin brothers Roland and Ronald Taverner (both played by Seann William Scott), whose destinies becomes confused with that of all mankind.
Filming for Southland Tales began on August 15, 2005, with a budget of around US$15-17 million.
Kelly has stated that the film's biggest influences are Kiss Me Deadly, Pulp Fiction, Brazil and Dr. Strangelove. He also calls it a "strange hybrid of the sensibilities of Andy Warhol and Philip K. Dick".[2]
After Sony's purchase of the film, the film was cut down and re-edited by Kelly.[3] According to his December 5, 2006 entry on his MySpace blog, the final cut runs 137 mins, a full 27 minutes shorter than the "work-in-progress" version shown at the Cannes Film Festival.[4]
Lovitz, Garofalo, Oteri, Dunn, and Poehler are all current or former cast members on Saturday Night Live. Sasso was one of the more visible cast members on SNL's Fox rival MADtv. The sketch comedy troupe The Mechanicals also make an appearance. Apparently, much of the dialogue in the film was improvised by the performers during filming.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Dwayne Johnson | Boxer Santaros |
| Seann William Scott | Roland / Ronald Taverner |
| Sarah Michelle Gellar | Krysta Now |
| Kevin Smith | Simon Theory |
| Curtis Armstrong | Doctor Soberin Exx |
| Joe Campana | Brandt Huntington |
| Nora Dunn | Cindy Pinziki |
| Janeane Garofalo | General Teena MacArthur |
| Beth Grant | Dr. Inga Von Westphalen / Marion Card |
| Wood Harris | Dion Werner / Dion Element |
| Christopher Lambert | Walter Mung |
| John Larroquette | Vaughn Smallhouse |
| Bai Ling | Serpentine |
| Jon Lovitz | Officer Bart Bookman |
| Abbey McBride | Sheena Gee |
| Mandy Moore | Madeline Frost Santaros |
| Holmes Osborne | Senator Bobby Frost |
| Cheri Oteri | Zora Carmichaels |
| Amy Poehler | Veronica Mung / Dream |
| Lou Taylor Pucci | Martin Kefauver |
| Miranda Richardson | Nana Mae Frost |
| Jill Ritchie | Shoshana Cox |
| Zelda Rubinstein | Dr. Katarina Kuntzler |
| Will Sasso | Fortunio Balducci |
| Wallace Shawn | Baron von Westphalen |
| Sab Shimono | Hideo Takehashi |
| Justin Timberlake | Private Pilot Abilene |
| Robert Benz | Tab Taverner |
Southland Tales is divided into six parts. A series of three graphic novels have told the first three parts of the story; the film will tell the final three parts. The film's website is expected to be one of the largest and most elaborate ever designed for a feature film.
The graphic novels were illustrated by Brett Weldele. The first part, Two Roads Diverge, was released on June 28 and introduces Boxer Santaros, Krysta Now, and Fortunio Balducci, as well as the state of the nation in the alternate universe in which the film takes place. Part two was released in mid November and introduced Ronald/Roland Taverner as well as introducing USI-Dent, the Treer Corporation and the Neo-Marxists while furthering the journey of Boxer, Krysta and Fortuino. Part three of the graphic novel series was released in mid-Feburary and further established the goings on of the Southland Tales universe by introducing the origin of Justin Timberlake's character as well as further elaborating on the origin and effects of Fluid Karma. The Mechanicals also sets up the first major event of the film.
The titles of the graphic novels are
- Part One: Two Roads Diverge
- Part Two: Fingerprints
- Part Three: The Mechanicals
The titles of the parts in the movie are:
- Part Four: Temptation Waits
- Part Five: Memory Gospel
- Part Six: Wave Of Mutilation
It has been noted that the titles for the parts of the film are also song titles. "Memory Gospel" is the name of a Moby song from the B-side album Play: The B Sides; "Wave of Mutilation" is a song by the Pixies that originally appeared on their second LP Doolittle; and "Temptation Waits" is the name of a Garbage track from their second album Version 2.0.
In a similar style to Donnie Darko, the official website, located at www.southlandtales.com, is an interactive Macromedia Flash animation, blending eerie sounds and visuals with puzzles. The taglines for the film include "Warning: you are entering a domain of chaos," "The internet is the future" and "The future is just like you imagined." Sites have also been created for Gellar's Krysta Now character, as well as for the Treer Corporation at www.Treer-products.com and a yet to be started website for USI-Dent, both of which are set to be part of the movie's universe.
Along with two other American filmmakers (Sofia Coppola with Marie-Antoinette and Richard Linklater with Fast Food Nation), Kelly's follow-up to Donnie Darko was in competition for the coveted Palme d'Or during 2006.
Critical reaction to the movie was divided. Many American critics responded unfavorably to the film's long running time and sprawling nature. Salon.com critic Andrew O'Hehir, for example, called the Cannes cut "about the biggest, ugliest mess I've ever seen."[5] Jason Solomons in The Observer said that "Southland Tales was so bad it made me wonder if [Kelly] had ever met a human being" and that ten minutes of the "sprawling, plotless, post-apocalyptic farrago" gave him the "sinking feeling that this may be one of the worst films ever presented in [Cannes] competition."[6] A handful of the American and European critics, however, were far more positive.[7] Village Voice critic J. Hoberman, for example, called Southland Tales "a visionary film about the end of times" comparable in recent American film only to David Lynch's acclaimed Mulholland Dr.[8]
- The name of the film refers to the Southland, a name used by locals to refer to Southern California, and more specifically, Greater Los Angeles.
- ^ Southland Tales. Box Office Mojo (2007-01-09). Retrieved on January 10, 2007.
- ^ Etherington, Daniel (2006). Southland Tales preview. Channel 4. Retrieved on September 16, 2005.
- ^ Bell, Mark (2006-09-12). How The World Ends: Conversation with Richard Kelly. Filmthreat.com. Retrieved on September 18, 2006.
- ^ Kelly, Richard (2006-12-05). Picture Lock. MySpace. Retrieved on December 12, 2006.
- ^ O'Hehir, Andrew (2006-05-22). Beyond the Multiplex: Cannes. Salon.com. Retrieved on July 10, 2006.
- ^ Solomons, Jason (2006-05-28). Get set for Palme Sunday. The Observer. Retrieved on July 10, 2006.
- ^ Links to many post-Cannes reviews, including multiple positive reviews by American, French, Spanish, Polish, and other reviewers.
- ^ Hoberman, J. (2006-05-23). Code Unknown. Village Voice. Retrieved on July 10, 2006.
Official promotional websites
Others
- Southland Tales at the Internet Movie Database
- Production notes
- News about re-editing of the film
- Associated Press interview with Kelly about his goals for the film