Putty Hill (2010)
Directed by Matthew Porterfield
Friends and family of Cory, a young man who has died of an overdose, gather at a Baltimore-area karaoke bar for his wake and compare stories about him. Gradually, as it becomes clear that there are many holes in their recollections about Cory, they fill in the blanks by talking about things that reveal aspects of their own lives. Among those mourning him and searching for meaning are his cousin Jenny, his sister Zoe and his brother James.
2 connections found
View:
2 connections, in both directions
What critics compared Putty Hill to
Again serving as his own d.p. (his other lensing credits include Matthew Porterfield’s “I Used to Be Darker” and “Putty Hill”), Saulnier cleverly establishes a man-on-the-run theme in his opening shot, before the action proper has even started.
You may know Saulnier as the director of something called Murder Party (07), but more likely you’ve seen his atmospherically scuffed lo-fi cinematography for Matt Porterfield’s Putty Hill and I Used to Be Darker .
Saulnier, who directed his first film, a horror farce, seven years ago (“Monster Party”), broke through as an artist by photographing Matt Porterfield’s cutting-edge movies about working-class Baltimore life, “Hamilton” and “Putty Hill.”
The film is reminiscent of the best parts of River’s Edge, Paranoid Park, and Wassup Rockers, as Porterfield and cinematographer Jeremy Saulnier focus on the vibe of their locations: a creek where the kids gather to swim, a retirement home where the deceased’s grandmother watches Reba, a library where a little girl listens to a reading of Sylvester And The Magic Pebble, and so on.