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| Courtesy of Vivo Films |
Bronx based gritty urban provocateur
turned independent artiste Abel Ferrara, like Werner Herzog before him, has carved
out his own niche and operated outside of the studio system on his own terms
for years, churning out everything from sleazy exploitation trash ala Driller
Killer to his eloquent Pasolini biopic. His latest venture and sixth collaboration
with actor Willem Dafoe, Siberia, is a weird foray into madness through
self-examination in the frozen mountains of Siberia involving a snowbound
bartender named Clint (Willem Dafoe) serving Inuit patrons speaking a language
outside his understanding.
Previously premiering at the 70th
Berlin International Film Festival right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit,
delaying the US theatrical release for another year until mid-2021, Siberia is
sold as a dogsledding adventure film ala Disney’s Togo also starring
Dafoe. What it really is however is a
bizarre, formless and seemingly plotless one-man show involving Dafoe on a soul-searching
journey with his Siberian huskies into a nearby cave to confront his demons
both real and imagined. While some other
cast members come into play including a cameo by Simon McBurney as a magician,
mostly the film rests solely on Dafoe who is game for every strange detour this
film throws at him and the audience.
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| Courtesy of Vivo Films |
Co-written by Welcome to New York and
New Rose Hotel screenwriter Christ Zois, Siberia might be the
oddest work of a wholly original artist who lulls the viewer into thinking this
will be a straightforward character study only to throw that notion completely
out the window. Sound wise, the film is
largely quiet save for some unexpected (and still confounding) jump scares and
features the music of lifelong collaborator Joe Delia. While the score isn’t aiming for the
unforgettable rhythms generated by the soundtrack to Ferrara’s Ms. 45,
it suits the ethereal, creepy mood of the piece rather well. The film also boasts some of Ferrara’s most painterly
widescreen panoramic vistas of the Siberian mountains thanks to The Life Aquatic
with Steve Zissou cinematographer Stefano Falivene.
As a narrative, Siberia is a
tough sell even for hardcore Ferrara fans.
Those expecting a down and dirty character study of a troubled man will
sort of get that here but with all manner of hallucinations and provocative
imagery, some of which is hard to unsee.
While the work is difficult to make heads or tails of, you have to
admire the journey Ferrara and Dafoe have taken together which have offered
some of modern independent world cinema’s most unique offerings of the last few
years.
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| Courtesy of Vivo Films |
Some may read Siberia as
an artistic misfire when compared to Welcome to New York which I still
say is the best Ferrara work of the decade.
That said, it was nonetheless an interesting psychodrama made by an original
New York based artist operating on his own who could care less about whether
his films have an audience or not. Just
don’t get mad if you come away from this one unsure of what to say about it.
--Andrew Kotwicki
