Devils + Angels

Not once in the three and a half years since Liquid Sunshine came out to the release of this movie have I ever heard Jon Barton complain about motivation. Concerns of the technology, of the concept, or of the production quality of a film are always foremost in his mind, but he is the only director I know who has never said, in any variation, "I don't feel like working on it right now." Maybe he's felt it but never shared it, but in any case, there's a quality about his work ethic that I admire and wish I had more of. If he thinks it's a good idea and he can execute in a given medium, then that's what he's going to do. In some cases that means three and a half years without a film release, but as Devils + Angels proves yet again, this man can't make anything he hasn't put 100% into.

The concept is fiendishly simple and yet staggering in its philosophical and theological inquiry. A man in white and a man in black stand upon a beach and have an honest discussion for the first time. From the context of the conversation (and key lines that reveal the nature of their relationship, and this world, at a deliberate pace), we realize that they are God and Lucifer, discussing existence and humanity. Lucifer finds himself in a state of peace, struck by the beauty of "this place", and quietly confesses that he does not hate on principle, but cannot sort out the contradiction of what he sees in man's nature. God seems to perceive, perhaps truthfully, his rival's first real moment of honesty and finds himself addressing questions he may not have all the answers to. And it's important that Lucifer is not getting soft: He bluntly accuses God of trying to disturb him and seems almost bitter about how incredible paradise is. He loves and appreciates in spite of himself. There are many moments in their exchange that are fascinating, powerful, and seem obvious in retrospect.

A script like this has some serious obstacles to overcome: Jon has to make some major theological assumptions if he's going to give these two anything of substance to talk about. We glimpse God's mind on the subject of creation, and learn some of the specifics as he speaks sincerely about his original intentions. We see Lucifer visibly disturbed by much of what he sees in humanity. God quotes a time frame of "over 190 centuries" and refers to "the other gods in this world". These are some weighty assumptions to make; wholly necessary to give context and details to the conversation, but potential land mines for viewers who may find any given assumption arrogant and overbearing. Jon navigates such waters brilliantly, revealing the specifics of his film's theological construct in terms of the conversation itself, so that we are focused on the concepts the two men are discussing and absorb this information more unconsciously. It could have been a disaster, with viewers second-guessing the rules of the film's world as religious opinions and thus missing the message entirely.

They converse with such a clear mutual understanding of the terms of their discussion that as viewers, we are sometimes out of the loop. We have to make comprehensive leaps to keep up with them and at times feel shoved outside. This is an inherent trap in a concept like Devils + Angels, and it's to Jon's credit that it happens minimally, but at 11 minutes, it's easy to get lost once or twice. Maybe that was the point -- certainly the beauty that Lucifer describes as he looks out onto the ocean isn't quite up to his prose. This confused me until I saw the movie again. The two characters refer to the setting in terms that make it clear it's a paradise and talk about humanity's self-fulfilling destruction and inability to comprehend such beauty. Devils + Angels ultimately concludes that "We're not ready for it yet." As such, we can't see it. Ultimately, I think it was a bold choice not to show a glimmer of a brilliantly colored sunrise at the end, as Lucifer stares off across the ocean before cutting to black (as I likely would have done). Even so, the final shot leaves a little to be desired in my mind. Some kind of middle ground, to give us a catharsis and underscore all that had been said, would've been nice.

In all, the imperfections don't significantly hurt the film, and it is definitely food for thought afterwards. It would've been hard to convince me that 3dmm had anything like this in its lexicon. At rare moments during the film you can sense the frustration of Jon fighting upstream to get such a lofty ideal realized in this silly little program. The character models use lower quality textures than 3dmm's native ones do, and have more split polygon seams. The water is an obvious compromise. And Jon doesn't quite avoid all of the pitfalls that emerge from such a sentimental and philosophical premise. In the later sections, during the most emotional lines with the swells in music, he gets in so close to the actors it's a little uncomfortable. The unguarded honesty of this movie is uncommon in 3dmm history to say the least. For the most part, I appreciated it, and it's hard to hold it against the film. It's amazing he had the courage to take a concept like this and draw it out to its natural conclusion. Jon Barton, I appreciate your honesty and sincerety, and dedication, confidence, and level-headedness. And sexiness.

Critical Score: 91/100.
Personal Score: 94/100.

[Aaron Haynes]

Sorry it took so long. I scrapped a previous attempt at reviewing it because it wasn't good enough, and I couldn't separate my impressions of what the film might be like during its creation from what the finished film was. I realized I was qualifying every observation I made by explaining this, so I decided to wait.

Probably didn't have to wait five months. At any rate, enjoy.

[Jon Barton]

In true to form irony, my new hard drive just crashed, wiping my sexy secret project to oblivion. Again. This happens often. So be prepared to wait another 3 1/2 years. That's read 312 by the way.

thanks for the review kitten, will post reaction soon. Right now I need a beer. and coffee. Mixed together with an orphan's tears.

[Aaron Haynes]

Just start sending me everything you do, every night. I'll keep them safe.

[Gorosaurus]

WORKS FOR ME


And ;_; don't do that to us, Jon

[Aaron Haynes]