Spectrum review - STINKING HEAVEN by Nathan Silver

A hopeless and chaotic search for heaven. The prolific Nathan Silver's latest work, and arguably his best yet, Stinking Heaven had its world premiere in the Spectrum section of the 44th International Film Festival Rotterdam.
 
Nathan Silver has been consistent in presenting greatly interesting works in the international film festival scene of recent times. His latest work might be his most impressive yet, also because it is an almost complete fulfillment of themes and elements that have shaped his own unique language of filmmaking thus far - starting with the characters, who are lost souls struggling to find a reason to keep going.
 
Stinking Heaven is the story of a sober community of drug addicts. The film has no straight forward narrative and in fact it feels like a very realistic and genuine recording of the fragility of this setting, which also seems to represent a hopeless search for utopia that materialises out of a series of loose activities such as regular re-enactments, games, chores and tea brewing. The authenticity of the film also comes from Silver's use of a professional video camera from the nineties, which is the era that provides the time setting of the movie (whilst its geographic location is New Jersey). The camera's sharp grit adds a texture that recalls a direct movie. To make things all the more intense, the camera has a tendency to get really close to the characters, in fact uncomfortably close, as if unceremoniously trying to dig right through the characters' souls. 

 

Much credit this time around goes to the costumes and production design, so often made of vibrant colours that contrasts with the colour palette that results from the video camera, and it is a contrast that boosts up the fenzy and chaost of the narrative and of the overall atmosphere.
 
The disharming realism of the movie is enhanced by the use of improvisation - another element that strongly defines its filmmaker's works. Improvisation is tricky business - it can work and not work. The reason why it works so well and with such great effect in Stinking Heaven is because much like in Exit Elena or Uncertain Terms, Silver does not shy away from the awkwardness that can arise from the spontaneousness of the acting, and this ups the tension and fills the drama with an impressive authenticity that is quite simply rare in cinema in general. Not to mention that, despite the embracing of spontaneousness, the process translates well also because soon enough the characters are quickly and naturally revealed, and the cast becomes an ensemble that behaves much in a way of an artistic wolfpack - which is a clear sign of the healthy organic film process.