Andrew reviews Listening, now available on Amazon Instant Streaming.
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| "This color scheme makes me want to Hulk out!! |
Ever since Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange presented mind control through a headset with
wires running from it, nuts and bolts science fiction head trips concerning
tapping into the depths of the human brain continued to manifest themselves
over the past few decades. From Ken
Russell’s Altered States, Douglas
Trumbull’s Brainstorm, Brett
Leonard’s The Lawnmower Man, Tarsem
Singh’s The Cell and most recently
Kristina Buozyte’s Vanishing Waves,
the cerebral premise of the connection between our world and the infinitesimal
vastness of innerspace with computer chips is clearly a favorite of the
genre. Now here is newcomer Khalil
Sullins’ Listening, a low budget
crossbreed between the student garage science of Primer, the race against time and military paranoia of Brainstorm and even a hint of philosophy
from Darren Aronofsky’s π. The result is startlingly well acted,
visually inspired and taut piece of storytelling with more than a few surprises
up its sleeve.
As previously mentioned, Listening shares Primer’s
bright yellow color schema as well as its collegiate characters on the verge of
a technological breakthrough. Opening
credits of a DOS computer text and images of spinal injection will no doubt
remind viewers of The Matrix although
a USB and Y-link headset affixed to the shaved temple of a person’s head felt
so close to Brainstorm it seemed more
like a lift than an homage. Technology
aside, this is one of the better directed and edited low budget sci-fi flicks
to come along under the radar in a while with few missteps and a refined color
palette. Much to my surprise and
delight, there’s a fair amount of location photography highlighting everything
from the Washington Monument to tranquil Buddhist monasteries. Much like Vanishing
Waves and Gaspar Noe’s out-of-body experience film Enter the Void, thoughts veer towards sexuality as the characters
plunge deep into each-others’ mindscapes although the images here are far tamer
by comparison. Only the by the numbers
action thriller soundtrack feel lacking in invention, almost tacked on to an
otherwise exciting celebration of old school sci-fi with circuit boards and
soldering irons.
Like I said, Listening
doesn’t quite measure up to Vanishing
Waves in terms of technical sophistication and fearlessness of taboo
imagery and so much iconography is taken from Brainstorm there were times I wanted to put that film on
instead. Pacing is also an issue as the
midsection is a bit torpid and the third act seems a bit rushed. I also felt where the aforementioned films
showed some astonishing vistas once we dove knee deep into the psyche of
another person, what we get here is kinda underwhelming Adobe Photoshop level
effects work. However, for a first time
effort standing on the shoulders of many greats, Listening manages to muster just enough solidarity to set itself
apart from its influences. In an age
where most sci-fi thrillers are dependent on CGI rendered fistfights and
enormous explosions, it’s a breath of fresh air to have a throwback to ideas
over fireworks and a reminder that no other experience is more ultimate than
that of the human mind.
Score
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