Bellflower: Tense Indie Drama

"Bellflower" is a tense indie drama filmed in a thrillingly original and heartfelt way. With this film, first-time writer/ director Evan Glodell (who also plays the lead character) has catapulted himself to the big leagues. An overnight star.

Two thousand eleven is turning out to be the year of new talent. Established directors are for the most part in a funk. Nothing they do is turning out well. But brash new indie talents are picking up the slack.

In addition to Glodell, there is Mike Cahill, first-time director of "Another Earth." Both of these young men are discovering fresh, new approaches to cinema but remain committed to telling stories about people. In one sense they're highly innovative, and in another they're remarkably old-fashioned. They get this balance perfectly right.

Mike Mills and Miranda July ("Beginners" and "The Future," respectively) are also part of this Class of 2011. Their recent films can be described in exactly the same terms. David Schwimmer is another noteworthy new talent. Best known for his acting (especially on the sitcom "Friends"), he has begun to branch out into film direction. In 2011, he released "Trust," his second feature film. Like the films of Glodell, Cahill, et al., "Trust" hones in on its characters' inner struggles. (The film, incidentally, stars Clive Owen and Catherine Keener and got far less attention than it deserved.)

It makes sense to dub 2011 The Year of Brash New Indie Talent.

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Returning to "Bellflower," it is a low-budget, hand-crafted film telling the story of two best friends who migrate to Los Angeles from Wisconsin and gradually lose their moral anchor. In some senses, it reminded me of Roman Polanski's "Repulsion" (1965) insofar as it depicts a life slowly coming apart.

The film is at times so realistic that you think you're watching a documentary. Especially impressive was the acting performance of newcomer Jessie Wiseman, who plays the unfaithful girlfriend of the main character. If Hollywood has any guts, they'll nominate Wiseman for Best Supporting Actress. It's hard to believe this is her first film. She is as comfortable in front of a camera as an actress with 20 years' experience.

Glodell's direction is rock-solid. In every scene, he knows exactly what he wants -- and what he wants is spot-on. The cinematography and editing were also spectacularly good. Cinematographer Joel Hodge is a genius with the camera. Over and over, the photography in "Bellflower" took my breath away.

This doesn't mean the film is perfect. It does have some substantial weaknesses. After a while, the tension in the story starts to seem fabricated. Rather than organically emerging out of the characters' lives, it seems at times to be phony, more of a plot device than anything else. But Glodell gets very close to a major artistic achievement here. For one's first film to be this good, that's a sign that one is immensely talented. I am thrilled at the idea of watching Glodell grow as a filmmaker in the decade ahead.

A big thank you to distributor Oscilloscope for giving this unique gem a chance to be seen by audiences. What would we do without companies like Oscilloscope?