If there's a resurgence in guerilla style indie filmmaking, and I have every hope there is, I've found the leaders. They are U.K. residents Jason Impey, and Wade Radford. Not only are they leading the charge, they're also the architects of said resurgence. With four films in a matter of two years, and their fifth just completed, Impey and Radford show no signs of slowing down. I was fortunate enough to see a screener of their newest collaboration Twink, and it's simply a stunning piece of work.
Filmed in a single day, with just a camera, an actor (well two, though one is an off screen voice), and improvised dialog, and made for almost nothing, Twink belies all the notions of what indie and low budget cinema can be. It is what cinema should be.
Twink tells the story of Kaden, a former adult film actor, who abruptly left the business, and is on a downward slide. Living in a rundown (though rundown is being generous), room, with peeling wallpaper, and graffiti written across, the movie opens with a documentary filmmaker waking him up, because he's late to start their project. Thus begins 68 minutes of Wade Radford giving an absolutely stunning performance. All too often indie movies are dragged down and made insufferable by bad acting, hackneyed writing, and directors who have a streak of self importance. Twink shuns all of that, and shows two artists at work, creating and making statements on society without bashing you over the head.
Filmed as a talking head type documentary, and shot entirely in one setting (with a brief campfire bit which doesn't quite work, but more on that later), Twink could have been a crashing bore. Yet, Radford lights up the screen, not just with his boyish looks and charm, but a wicked smile, and gleaming eyes. You'll want to have your way with him, or smack him, and often at the same time. Radford does such a wonderful job portraying the rakish, downtrodden Kaden (real name Quinn-so he says); that you can almost believe you are watching a documentary. Impey's direction is perfect, and lets the camera act as a fly on the wall, being obtrusive only when necessary. There is a couple of places where the style is broken, such as a drug and alcohol fueled scene where Kaden attempts to seduce the filmmaker, and at the very end, but it works well, and, the film feels cohesive.
If there's anything I have a negative feeling about, it's a brief scene shot around a campfire. There's the clichéd shot of Kaden, face half hidden in shadow, as he talks about his youth and family, preceded by his reading a poem (which is from Wade Radford's most excellent poetry collection Tough Blows of A Sleepless Universe), which is then burned, and an endless shot of the paper burning. While it was nice to get out of the cramped dwelling Kaden is reduced to living in, it also seemed unnecessary and a bit overwrought. Still, it's a very short scene, and it is redeemed by Radford's performance.
As the movie unfolds, you see Kaden become vulnerable, then building his walls back up. It is clear, he trusts no one, and given his past, you can't blame him. The more he drinks and smokes weed, the more delirious he becomes, and that leads us to the inevitable conclusion. I won't say I was surprised by the ending, as I wasn't. However, it was still a very potent and emotional climax, and a payoff-if you can call it that-which works very, very well.
This is not an easy film to watch. Listening to Kaden's story, his fall from grace, and bitterness against the world (seemingly blind to his own willing participation), takes you on an emotional roller- coaster. Impey and Radford, as with all of their work, pull no punches. This is raw, dangerous work. It has something to say, and says it with a big middle finger to not only the adult film industry but the world of media as well.
I was not overly familiar with their work prior to Twink (though I've followed Radford on twitter for sometime), but if Twink and the trailers for their other work is anything to judge them by, watch out for these two.
