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Indy film at BU
By Graig Matkowski
Of The Voice
On Wednesday Nov. 17, in the Kehr Union Ballroom, Nathan Blackwell, writer and director of Forever Midnight, held a viewing of his film as well as a question and answer session afterwards.
Forever Midnight cost $38,000, and took 23 days, 6 days a week, 12 hours per day in the summer of 1998, and is an exquisite film about recent high school graduates trying to find their way after graduation.
Blackwell has made a few short films, but never went to film school (just a few night school film classes).
He explains that there is a sharp learning curve to making your first feature length film.
The film shown is a far cry from the original script which has undergone seven revisions with tiny dialogue changes and scene additions and deletions.
The main characters of the story are Fenix Day (portrayed by Sarah Byrd), Jaytree Parker (Erick H. Weir), and Roman Tropiano (James Hoenscheidt).
Forever Midnight takes an honest look into the minds of today’s youth with all the unsettling and humorous moments.
It’s not a story about finding a direction in life, but about not losing yourself along the way.
The theme of the film, according to Blackwell, is that “if you don’t control your own life, it will control you.”
Forever Midnight’s characters can best be related to the psychotic out of control Jack Nicholson in Stanley Kubrick’s classic The Shining.
Fenix is a piano student who has always been the girl everyone expects will succeed, but now she is caught in a tug of war between what her mother wants, what her boyfriend wants and what she thinks she wants.
Growing claustrophobic over her situation, Fenix begins to spin into a total identity crisis.
As for Jaytree, he is your typical guy who cannot commit.
He is certain that each girl he encounters is the girl of his fantasies, that is until he actually gets to know them and becomes disinterested.
Roman, is a couch philosopher who would rather be discussing his “Chewbacca-Jesus Theory” than advancing toward any sort of society imposed goals. His charismatic, unworried attitude is just a shield hiding his frustration with problems at home.
Since this film takes place after graduation, just about everyone can relate to its message.
Whether you are a freshman just entering college or a senior about to enter the real world, this movie will have a special meaning to you. Remembering that “if you don’t control your own life, it will control you” is vital if you wish to remain true to yourself.
voice@planetx.bloomu.edu
11-23-1999
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