Stress Position
(Canada, 79 min.)
Written and directed by A.J. Bond
Starring: A.J. Bond, David Amito, Marguerite Moreau
A.J. Bond’s quasi-docudrama Stress Position is an intriguing experiment in filmmaking and psychology alike. The director pits himself against his friend Dave and makes a bet following an off-the-cuff remark about the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. The friends make a wager over who can withstand Guantanamo-grade psychological torture longer than the other can. A brutal test shows how things are easier said than done.
The genre-bending Stress
Position feels partly inspired by the wave of reality shows/lunatic grudge
matches that populated television in the dog eat dog days of Guantanamo Bay.
The film, like the reality shows themselves, treads the line between truth and
fiction as one is never entirely sure how much of the action is staged and how
much of it is genuine. A.J. confronts Dave with a barrage of sadistic
dehumanization that pushes the boundaries of their friendship, not to mention
the rules of documentary filmmaking if these actions are indeed real.
There’s an experimental pretense to realism here since Stress Position seems faker with each assertion
that the drama is real. The cameras are always present in Stress Position, so one is entirely aware of the artifice, yet the
camera and visible threads of the production suggest a documentary-like
authenticity that lives in the present tense. A.J., however, then demands
multiple angles and takes from Dave and thus draws attention to the fabrication
of their experiment while searching for a supposedly “genuine” performance from
his friend. Alternatively, the inspired production design by Lauren Meyer
offers an eerie setting that makes the experiment feel like it takes place in
an outwardly torture chamber. There are so many walls to this meta-movie that
the odd, one-of-a-kind energy puts one on edge. It’s a test that finds the
breaking point between truth and fiction.
Stress Position,
however, inevitably falters when the film crosses the line in believability.
There’s just a moment in the film when A.J.’s direction—both onscreen and
off—consumes itself and Stress Position
tips the scales into drama and loses credibility. The quest that underlies the experiment,
moreover, somewhat belittles the gross human rights violations that emerged
from Guantanamo Bay and Stress Position’s
cinematic intellectualization of real-life horror makes for an uncomfortable
endnote. It’s a consistently fascinating experiment in form and meaning
nevertheless.
Rating: ★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Stress Position screened in Toronto at the Carlton.
That Burning Feeling
(Canada, 95 min.)
Dir. Jason James, Writ. Nick Citton, Jason James
Starring: Paul Costanzo, Ingrid Haas, Tyler Labine, Emily
Hampshire, John Cho
The sweet STI rom-com That
Burning Feeling tells audiences to embrace their potential mates for all
their endearing peculiarities. Love them genital warts and all, one might say.
Adam finds different ways of looking at the women in his life when his doctor
(a funny jay Brazeu) tells him to track down each of the thirteen women he
slept with during the past month and find the carrier. His STI treasure hunt
plays out alongside his courtship of Liv, and each of the women from his past
opens a part of himself he hadn’t discovered before.
Adam’s past lovers are an eclectic bunch. Most memorable
among them is Genevieve (Emily Hampshire), whom Adam dubs “Crazy Eyes” in his
roster of pet names for past conquests. Genevieve is an oddball stalker-type
who works in Motor Vehicle Services and sports a wardrobe of fugly Molly
Maxwell sweaters. Hampshire is a scene-stealer as Genevieve’s awkwardness and
semi-nutty word vomit draws out Adam’s sweet side. Equally fun are Tyler Labine
and John Cho as Adam’s neighbour and nemesis, respectively.
The supporting players might be the funny bone of the film,
but Adam and Liv's hesitant, cautious push-and-pull courtship is easily the
heart thanks to the winning leads by Costanzo and especially Haas. Fans hoping
for a rambunctious/raunchy outing in the vein of last year's My Awkward Sexual Adventure might be surprised
by the uncontrived sweetness of the film (the irresistible presence of Hampshire,
plus the marketing, could bring expectations of more R-rated humor), but
that Burning Feeling is surprisingly
adorable for a film about the Clap.
Rating: ★★★½ (out of ★★★★★)
That Burning Feeling opens in Toronto May 2.
Update: It opens in Ottawa at Landmark Kanata on June 27.