Michelle reviews a little known feature called Space Station 76.
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| "Dude. Dig my wall paper?" |
Space Station 76
is probably one of the most esoteric “concept films” made this year. It’s a
modern science fiction movie that takes place in an idealized 1970’s version of
the future—think films like Logan’s Run,
THX 1138, and The Black Hole and you will have an idea of the aesthetic that is
being referenced. To be honest, it’s an idea that would probably be more suited
to a short film or a comedy skit, but director Jack Plotnick has managed to
make it work as a full length film (for the most part).
The film is billed as a “black dramedy” and the tone
oscillates between overwrought drama and absolutely pitch black humor. The
entire movie takes place in the space station which is overseen by Captain
Glenn (Patrick Wilson), a gruff alcoholic with impressive mutton-chops who is
barely keeping the ship together after the abrupt departure of his co-pilot. He
gets a new female recruit named Jessica (Liv Tyler) and we follow her
interactions with the rest of the dysfunctional inhabitants of the station.
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For a film like this to work on a basic level, they need to
sell the idea of it being a “retro-future” and nail all of the clichés associated
with it. From the art deco wallpaper (complete with wood paneling), to the
stark white Kubrick-esqe ship hallways, everything is spot on. The clothes are
all vintage 1970’s styles with big bell bottoms and the requisite super-groovy
space jumpsuits that the ‘70s were so fond of. All of the electronics are
giant, blocky and analogue—it looks like everyone is using old Korg
synthesizers for everything they do. One character has a clunky, robotic
prosthetic hand that he has to plug in
with a cord to recharge—little things like this really add to the charm of
the film.The score is a mixture of sweeping orchestral music and spacy synth
riffs and fits perfectly. There are
always ambient square wave beeps and boops going on in the background which
sounds like older video game sounds (like Atari or Intellivision).
Black comedy is hard to do well, and Space Station 76 might go over the heads of some audience members. It’s
not because it’s particularly clever, although it is well-written, it’s that
whomever watches this movie has to be intimately familiar with a somewhat
obscure genre of films to get all of the jokes. If you are in on what is going
on, it’s hilarious, but if you don’t understand the references then the humor
will seem tedious and out of place. This also applies to the melodramatic parts
of the story too as old 1970’s space operas were full of that type of thing. Everything
in this film is done dead pan and serious but with tongue firmly planted in
cheek. The humor is also mean-spirited at times which might turn some people
off. This type of humor isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
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| "Look at the size of that thing!!!" |
Everything in this film doesn’t work and the pacing of it is
jumpy and a little scattered. It could have benefitted from tighter editing as
the relatively short runtime still seems a little too long. They also don’t develop
the characters enough and there are some side plots that get a strong start and
end with in an ambiguous way. It almost seems as if the director wrote himself
into a corner and didn’t know how to end the film. This isn’t enough to detract
from the film too much but it does leave the viewer wishing for better closure
to the story. If you happen to be a fan of this extremely specific era of genre
film, then you will find much to like in this quirky little indie flick.
-Michelle Kisner
