Adam and Joel
19-Nov-2013
A conversation between 2 friends, drinking beers, eating Combos, talking about everything, a spirited 5am social + political + religious, etc, etc., discussion. There's a jump cut every 2 or 3 seconds which takes some getting used to, but creates interesting gaps and leaps, and establishes momentum. The two friends, one Jewish, one African American, start with some sex talk, jump to some cultural heritage, land on some self-hate, get to some semantics, "white trash," "the holocaust." Director Theodore Collatos (who also directed the previous NoBudge selection, "Berlin Day to Night") simply documents the discussion, jump cuts being his only flourish, he knows how to get out of the way, to let the "actors" act. The whole thing feels spontaneous, like a feeling arose in a room, Collatos reached for whatever camera was around and filmed for hours, capturing two people at the end of a long night, locked in to an endless chatter (at worst) / discourse (at best), a time & situation that's never easy to get. The result is refreshing for its candor and lack of self-consciousness.