SLOW MACHINE
A film by Paul Felten, Joe DeNardo
2020, 72 minutes
2020, 72 minutes
No. 287
Narrative
Narrative
Description
The thriller genre is exploded and reassembled in DeNardo and Felten’s funny and alluring work on paranoia, surveillance, and performance.
Featuring an intriguingly eclectic cast (including the experimental theater performers Stephanie Hayes and Scott Shepherd, the musician Eleanor Friedberger, and Chloë Sevigny), Slow Machine follows an actress (Hayes) whose intimate relationship with a shadowy NYPD-affiliated operative ends abruptly and disastrously, leading her to hide out in a country house otherwise occupied by a band preparing their new record. But la vie bohemienne proves almost as anxious and tense as life in the city…
Deftly lensed in 16mm and unfurling as a digressive, tantalizingly off-kilter mystery, Slow Machine is a fascinating work pitched at the intersection of American independent cinema and the avant-garde theater of Richard Foreman and the Wooster Group.
Festivals
Official Selection, International Film Festival Rotterdam
Official Selection, New York Film Festival
Official Selection, Champs Elysees Film Festival
Official Selection, New Holland Island International Debut Film Festival
Official Selection, New York Film Festival
Official Selection, Champs Elysees Film Festival
Official Selection, New Holland Island International Debut Film Festival
Reviews
"I’m trying to tell you that this movie is absolutely fantastic! ...if you want a cool New York movie about a complex woman, check out Slow Machine." - Film Threat
"Exemplifies the best qualities of a genuine indie: a spirited, intelligent, ambitious and more than a little reckless endeavor which transcends its extremely modest means through sheer invention.” - Giovanni Marchini Camia, Filmmaker Magazine
"Totally infectious. Incredibly funny." - Chloe Lizotte, Screen Slate
"A tour de force." - Tony Pipolo, Artforum
