BeatRoute BC Print Edition March 2018

FILM
BADSVILLE
A CONVERSATION WITH DIRECTOR APRIL MULLEN
HOGAN SHORT
April Mullen’s latest feature, Badsville, was a collaborative labour of love.
April Mullen is an actor, producer
and director with a talent of finding
interesting and unique stories to
tell. I first interviewed April for her
sexually raw film, Below Her Mouth,
about two woman falling in love.
Since then she has directed episodes
for D.C.s Legends of Tomorrow,
Wynona Earp and Killjoys. Her latest
feature film, Badsville, is a greaser
RED SPARROW
SPY THRILLER TWISTS, TURNS AND SOARS
BRENDAN LEE
28
gang movie about one man’s struggle
to stay alive long enough to leave.
It’s an unflinching look at violence
and unfortunate circumstance but is
grounded by explored characters and
their emotional journeys.
Badsville is getting great reviews
and even won Mullen the Best
Director award at the prestigious
Canadian Film Awards. Mullen spoke
Jennifer Lawrence hypnotizes as a badass spy in Red Sparrow.
to us about what winning that award
meant to her and the `film. “There is
indie cinema like Lady Bird or Juno,
but they are still structured. Then
there is true indie cinema. This was
something special about Badsville.
This is why I entered the film industry
and why I love storytelling. It was
a small group of seventeen, shot in
eighteen days. I’m so proud to have it
so well received.”
Badsville was written by its two
lead actors and first-time writers,
Benjamin Barett and Ian McLaren.
They were very attached and just
as a director may be picky when
choosing a project, writers can also
want the right person to bring their
vision to life. With Badsville, it appears
everyone involved felt in love with the
material and the two visions aligned.
“These two actors wrote this script
and they’re really attached. it’s really
special. So I read it and it feels so fresh,
so unique in this overly violent world
mixed with this gorgeous love story
with a greaser rockabilly feel. It had
a unique tone that I had never done
before. I couldn’t stop thinking about
It’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role
of the corporeal Dominika Egorova, and
despite any missteps script-side, Jennifer
Lawrence delivers a performance that yearns
as much as it hypnotizes. Within minutes of
dimmed lights, decorated ballerina, Egorova
(played by Lawrence) snaps her leg midperformance,
kicking off a content-heavy
plot line. In order to pay medical bills for her
sick mother, Egorova is forced into a new life
as an emotionally manipulative weapon for
the Russian Government — a Sparrow. At
the same time, we meet American CIA agent,
Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton), who crosses paths
with Egorova after she’s tasked with finding
the mole he keeps tabs on. The two weave in
and out of deceits with one another, until a
final ultimate connection leaves each with a
fresh beginning in what ends up being a tense
yet poignant finish.
At the hands of a dense, plot-point filled
first half, the story rarely has a chance to
sit still. Instead, well-composed shots with
muted yet sparsely vibrant pallets fly by
at speeds unforgiving. There’s a level of
ultra-violence carried through, and those
even slightly squeamish may not survive the
torture sequences without hyperventilating.
The rate at which the story reveals new
the script. I had an interview with
Ben and Ian and had images for them,
musical references…sometimes it’s
just meant to be.”
April Mullen not only had to direct
this unique vision from the two
talented writers but they were also
starring in it. The pressure for them
and her to bring this story to life was
always there but the connection to
the material comes through in the
final product. “It was always their
intention to play the main characters.
They wrote it as a vehicle to showcase
their abilities. A big part is casting
your leads and you don’t know what
they’re capable of. It was obvious to
me how passionate they are. They are
leading men, how vulnerable they are.
One is a wrestler and the other is a
professional hockey player and does
stunts. The physicality of the role was
there but it was the emotion that
shined through. It was a gut instinct.”
Badsville can be seen now on all VOD
platforms and iTunes. A Canadian
female directed film getting great
reviews deserves to be seen.
and intriguing information is, however,
enjoyable. Director, Francis Lawrence,
succeeds in creating a near fully realized
world, one that feeds on coincidence but
draws strength in its utilization of a cast of
big name actors who embellish and augment
anything written in the script.
On the surface, the story is very much
a cold-war thriller for the modern age.
Another level deeper, the heartbreaking
tale of battered and abused Egorova invites
discussions around the necessity for women
to rely on sexuality when left with no other
options. Unfortunately, that’s about as far
as F. Lawrence allows the audience to delve,
and any philosophical contemplations are
left behind in the wake of a finale that sparks
more questions than it does answers. To be
fair, Red Sparrow never held the expectations
of an art-house masterpiece. Drawing
influence from page-turner paperback
mysteries, the story pays more attention
to developing surprise than it ever does
with its themes. Potentially predictable, the
twists and turns are fun to watch, and the
dedication to an embodiment of character
J. Lawrence has on display is impressive,
although, at this point in her career, should
shock no one.
THIS
MONTH
IN FILM
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL CINEMA
BRENDAN LEE
The Death of Stalin - March 9
From the creator of infamous TV
comedy, Veep, comes a feature length
film cut from a similar satirical cloth.
Writer/director Armando Iannucci
returns to the big screen with a tonguein-cheek
look at the death of one of
history’s deadliest dictators. Banned
in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and
Kazakhstan, this social commentary
might be one to line up for.
Unsane - March 23
Prepare to be visually manipulated. Take
slow, deep breaths and focus the mind
in a desperate attempt to shut off from
the horrors around you. Try, but fail,
to hide from the fact that everything
you’re scared of exists, solely, within
your own head. Shot entirely on an
iPhone, Unsane stars Claire Foy as she
takes the troubled lead in Soderbergh’s
latest, visceral feast.
Isle of Dogs - March 23
Wes Anderson is the undisputed king
of quirky emotional escapades and is
back with a new stop-motion fable. In a
futuristic Japan, young Atari Kobayashi
ventures to an island of quarantined
canines and, with the help of a few
certain mutts, searches amidst the
waste for his own lost best friend.
Isle of Dogs
March 2018