Sleep Always

I bought a copy of Sleep Always to study it's film format, Super-Duper 8. I ended up enthralled with the story, it's unique characteristics, so much so that it took me till the 3rd viewing before I even got down to studying the Super-Duper 8 format itself. The story itself is about a mans decent into obsession, jealousy, and self-destruction. You watch him throw his life away for a woman that does not want him. With the character of the next-door neighbor acting as a kind of "devil on the shoulder" pointing out to the audience the central characters self-destructive course. The acting, while not up to Hollywood blockbuster levels, is fairly decent, better than a lot of movies I've run across lately with multi-million dollar budgets. The style is unique unto itself, and with the now cancellation of the film stock used, will likely never be replicated again.

For it's beauty, for it's style, for the art, this movie is marvelous.

Films about obsessive men hung up on elusive women have been made before (look at 80% of the Lifetime channel's programming) but "Sleep Always" is something else altogether. The lead character in this film has little going on in his life until he runs into a good-looking homeless woman (the best looking homeless woman I've ever seen!) but fortunately the film's writing and acting work well towards creating a non-clichéd story, one that stays with you long after the film ends.

This film was shot on Super-8 reversal stock (7240 for those who care) -- and it's amazing that the images look as good as they do. I was impressed by how well it was shot despite these limitations. Rather than detract, the super-8 format lends to the unsettling tone...this is creepy stuff bordering on Lynchian-territory. If you are in the mood for something offbeat and non-Hollywood I would highly recommend this film.

The lead actress was excellent -- I can see her going places. The actor, not as good, but not embarrassing either.

I really enjoyed this film. Great atmosphere and locations, well-photographed with the experimental DS8mm film format. Think L'atalante crossed with Mulholland Drive and you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect from Sleep Always (not that the film seems derivative of these, far from it) Particularly well done in the film is the female lead character Nada. She has a magnetic personality that nicely contrasts with the somewhat awkward protagonist. I enjoyed watching their different energies interact, although the dubbed dialogue wasn't always convincing. The film works best at setting a particular mood(fever dream?) and sustaining that mood for the 80 plus minutes it lasts. For that alone Sleep Always is worth seeing. The theme of unrequited love is well done and there is obviously some psychological/mythic level this film is exploring, but not very deeply or with much insight.

For an art form that has long ago fallen into decadence, its nice to see there are films being made with different motives than simple diversion and $$$. Well worth your time if you are serious about cinema.

Sleep Always is a movie about a man, Frank, that is obsessed with a homeless women, Nada. What separates this movie from most is that it asks more questions than it answers. Is Frank's life so mundane that he can only be infatuated by Nada? Who and what is Nada, and why is she found so captivating by Frank? At what cost is a relationship with Nada worth pursuing? Who is Frank's neighbor, and what is he trying to protect Frank from? The story is presented in a slightly non-linear format, so it is up to the viewer to decide what is the past and what is the present.

This is a daring film, shot on a daring format, by daring filmmakers. Not often does a film respect its audience enough to forgo all the answers. As an old proverb goes, "You are what you think about all day." Nada becomes Frank's obsession, and it is up to the viewer to decide where Frank ends and where Nada begins.

I bought this DVD after finding it during Web research on time-exposure cinematography. I didn't know what to expect, but I was not disappointed. The photography was fine: quirky, mysterious and disconcerting where it needed to be; "normal" where that was needed too.

The soundtrack was awesome! I really enjoyed the music on this DVD, and there was lots of it. I still intend to go back through those closing credits to find out who those artists were.

Another way the soundtrack was good was that the dialog was always clear. There were no scenes where it got lost in the room acoustics or background noises - all of which CAN happen. These folks paid strict attention to the details.

Of course I liked the story too. I liked the characters and the non-linear storytelling.

I would recommend this film to anyone who wants to see a good independent film.