Johnny's Gone

I saw this film at the Atlantic City Festival, where it richly deserved to win "Best Drama Feature" for its haunting exposition, deft handling of multiple/absorbing themes (three major, two minor, all nicely intertwined), superb acting, complex structure in a very accessible style, and above all by its totally engaging cinematography and vibrant rendering of all scenes in natural light. And let's not forget that this feature-length film was made for around $100K! That may be the most amazing thing about it. This is world-class cinematic professionalism at its finest! One of the things that makes this film so captivating is less what it shows or tells, but what it holds back. Within each of its several "segments" are moments that are pregnant with multiple concepts and ideas, any one of which could be explored at great length, but which mean so much more in resonance with all of the other segments in the film. It's an epic encapsulated in a sonnet, and the sonnet sings! It raises more questions than it answers, as any mature work of art should. It's a must-see!