Ballast (Lance Hammer, 2008)

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miless · #1 Post by **miless** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:40 pm

I recently got really excited over the trailer to this multiple award winning first feature from Lance Hammer.

I was actually surprised that there were no previous posts on this film (especially given that the film has been favorably compared to Killer of Sheep and Japón).

According to indiewire Lance has turned down IFC to distribute the film himself.

chaddoli · #2 Post by **chaddoli** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:12 pm

I'm really looking forward to seeing this at Film Forum in a couple weeks. It was one of the only films out of Sundance that I was really interested in, even though I didn't know anything about it except for the one still frame I saw.

It looks like some sort of Dardennes/Green hybrid which sits just fine with me.

Grand Illusion · #3 Post by **Grand Illusion** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 3:29 am

I've heard amazing things from associates who went to Sundance.

exte · #4 Post by **exte** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 4:48 am

I've been following it, but never had the nerve to start up a thread. Look forward to catching it when it opens in October, though... Hopefully Spike Lee won't open his mouth about it, unless it benefits the film's box office prospects.

portnoy · #5 Post by **portnoy** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 5:44 am

It's very good - I'm not sure I quite understand the Bresson comparisons, except that Hammer uses non-professional actors. The film does relate to the Dardennes, but the narrative is perhaps a bit more conventionally satisfying than say, L'Enfant or Rosetta. As with the Dardennes and Seraing, there's a sense of place here which is incredibly moving - Hammer's Mississippi Delta is a quintessentially American landscape that dictate the film's emotional trajectory as much as the narrative does.

Really, I'd say Hammer is an incredibly promising filmmaker - I can't wait to see where he goes from here - whether he stays in the Delta and produces a sort of regionalist cinema about the forgotten nexus of a huge amount of America's heritage culture or if his vision is more expansive.

miless · #6 Post by **miless** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 5:37 pm

Thanks so much for your response, this is the first film since last year that I've truly been excited for. I'm really glad that someone (other than, say, Van Sant or Lodge Kerrigan) is making films on par (at least critically) with Latin American/Eastern European/Asian art cinema

also, Hammer is not from the Delta (nor has he ever lived there), so I do doubt that he will continue making films there.

tavernier · #7 Post by **tavernier** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 4:34 pm

I wasn't going to bother with this, but since Armond loathes it, I just might see it now.

perkizitore · #8 Post by **perkizitore** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 1:23 pm

After so much hype and rave reviews, not even a DVD release??? ](*,)

#10 Post by **zedz** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:55 pm

According to a recent Film Comment ad, it's coming out in November from Kino. (Which reminds me that I need to watch the disc I've got lying around somewhere!)

Oedipax · #11 Post by **Oedipax** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 2:05 am

zedz wrote:According to a recent Film Comment ad, it's coming out in November from Kino.

Well then, I look forward to finally seeing this film in all its interlaced, single-layered, $29.95 MSRP splendor.

#12 Post by **zedz** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 2:09 am

You forgot bare-bones. But let's be optimistic.

Perkins Cobb · #13 Post by **Perkins Cobb** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 2:42 pm

Amazon says Blu-Ray from Kino on November 10. Has Kino figured out how to fuck up Blu-rays yet?

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