When I first heard from Christian de Rezendes, I was still working as a film critic on the East Coast and he was just another independent director sending me e-mails, apparently in search of ink. A few years later, I have given up the film-writing gig, relocated to the University of Wisconsin and seen my inbox all-but-empty of film-related notes. The panoply of independent directors who once wrote in searching for free press almost universally seem to have seen their films go by the wayside, dying a quiet and almost completely unnoted death on the film-festival circuit. But de Rezendes’ e-mails never seem to have stopped coming, and these days he is sending out notes promoting his movie’s upcoming DVD release.
The film is titled “Getting Out of Rhode Island” and is the somewhat-improvised, somewhat-scripted story of Jacob Mattison (Robert Merrifield), the local Rhode Island boy who has gone to Hollywood and done good. Never mind that he is a drugged-out, tempestuous has-been, his “welcome home” party will make the perfect networking gig for the community’s aspiring local artistic talents. And so the bash is on.
The film is shot virtually in real time, with the party comprising the movie’s entirety. Those playing the main characters in the film and those assigned loose roles as party guests were never introduced in advance of filming. “We wanted it as fresh and raw and natural and unrehearsed and purposely sloppy as possible,” de Rezendes explains.
The result is a unique and enjoyable film that successfully parades across the screen with convincing dialogue and quirkily believable relationships. Despite never abandoning the one-party setting, the film manages to stay fresh with the characters all evolving as the night goes on.
Moreover, the film, which employs multiple cameras, is edited in sync with itself. “All of what you are seeing,” de Rezendes explains, “is happening simultaneously.” This makes for some deliciously awkward montages, as the movie cuts between a close-up shot of a cocktail weenie and an attractive couple fraternizing.
Seemingly even more remarkable than the film itself, though, is the story of how it has evolved from the day de Rezendes sent out his first mass e-mail to its upcoming nationwide DVD release.
Made for less than $2,000 — most of which went toward food and drinks for the party; “props,” if you will — “Getting Out of Rhode Island” is the truest of independent films. Actors were not paid, the editing was done in de Rezendes’ spare time when not working his day job, and the improvised nature of filming led to one person accidentally stepping into a real fist, and another actor actually mistakenly dialing “911” when his character threatens to call the police. (The latter incident led to Rhode Island authorities’ arrival on the set — de Rezendes’ house — shortly thereafter. If you listen carefully, you can hear sirens in the background at one point.)
But it is the film’s success after the actors went home that distinguishes it from so many of the independent projects that will never quite make it onto a store shelf. De Rezendes shipped a copy of the feature out to the Black Point Film Festival in none other than Lake Geneva, Wisc., where it took top honors and gained notoriety. A screening at the Bare Bones Film Festival also yielded a positive reaction for the party flick.
Then, at the end of 2002, Film Threat, a major cinema website, named “Getting Out of Rhode Island” the best unseen flick of the year. That proved to be just the break de Rezendes needed, with Film Threat DVD now distributing the film.
De Rezendes keeps a website, www.gettingoutofrhodeisland.com, where you can order the DVD and read more about this unique film. The disc should be on shelves nationwide later this spring, completing the rare success story of a director whose film has now had enough ammunition to fill this critic’s inbox — with good reason — for years.
