‘Maximum Shame’ is a surreal
minimalist experimental art-house work a genre fusion of comedy, horror,
musical and science fiction employing fetish imagery and a non-traditional
cinematic narrative in which its characters are used as chess pieces in an
apocalyptic tale about human desperation. It was shot primarily on the location
of an abandoned warehouse in London, England on a mere budget of an estimated €9,000
with for the most part a wardrobe of black leather S & M clothing and
dental restraints for its cast of characters. Written and directed by Spanish avant-garde underground filmmaker and playwright Carlos Atanes it was nominated for a
Best Feature Movie award at the 2010 BUT (B Movie, Underground and Trash) Film
Festival, Breda, The Netherlands.
Atanes has built up quite
the cult following in underground circles since first appearing on the scene in
1991 with his short film The Marvellous World of the Cucu Bird. He
then went on to make twelve more shorts including a documentary. The filmmaker made
his first released feature with 2004’s ‘FAQ:
Frequently Asked Questions’ that went on to win the Best Feature Film Award at
the Athens Panorama of Independent Filmmakers the following year. His body of
work also includes unreleased productions. Carlos Atanes remains a fiercely
independent filmmaker working outside of the Spanish film industry from where
he receives no support shooting his work on video on self-financed miniscule budgets
that have forced him to shoot up to just like four weeks of footage over the course
of months or even an entire year. Not only does Atanes’ have to finance all of
his work but also with little interest from distributors in his native homeland,
he is forced to network the worldwide festival circuit to get his films seen. The
filmmaker’s style is considered original provocative surrealism that often features
the themes of alternative realities, exile, oppression and power. A term to label his work was even coined - "Atanic".
In ‘Maximum Shame’, the
world is on the brink of ending. A woman (The Bishop) played by Ana Mayo lying
in bed of a night with her lover (The Rook) played by Paco Moreno explains the
many numbered variations in a game of chess and the amount of possible
alternative universes. When The Bishop falls asleep, The Rook crawls out from
under the duvet entering a dimensional limbo existing between reality and
fantasy taking the appearance of a dirty and dingy derelict warehouse. Its
ruler the cruel and narcissistic dominatrix roller-skating The Queen (Marina
Gatell) manipulates its inhabitants into a game of human chess. Becoming
trapped there, The Bishop goes looking for her partner. Sounds weird? It very well is. Confused? You very well will be…
The film is very difficult
to critique, as it does not strive to appeal to the masses specifically aimed
for its core audience in mind a minority demographic with underground
filmmaking at its most underground defying to be categorized. It exists outside
of the cinematic norm not following its conventions with Carlos Atanes playing
with its narrative structure like a puzzle and does not even pay attention to
character development, as the focus is situational. It is not graphically violent
the writer and director instead creates a freakish Alice in Wonderland
philosophical head-trip a mirrored alternative reality of our world that
challenges the mind raising questions and never answering them leaving it up to
the viewer’s interpretation. All this is encapsulated in a bleak cold
atmosphere enhanced by the confined claustrophobia of the squalid
setting. The analogy for chess a game of domination and submission fits in with
the fetish imagery none of which is at all sexual; instead, the objects used by
the cast are given significance by being fetishized as the characters’
obsessions in a very plutonic and grotesque way pertaining to their “maximum shame”.
The dialogue Atanes has
written is unique in that it mostly takes the form of monologues and occasionally
leads into singing with musical numbers mixing a wide range of influences and
peppers the already very strange proceedings with a fair bit of bizarre humour.
Shot entirely in the English language with an entirely Spanish cast their
English skills vary but the performances all around are suitably off the wall
with the stand out for me being Ignasi Vidal as The Knight in a wonderfully
over the top hammy turn.
After watching it twice now, I still really do not know
how to feel about ‘Maximum Shame’ as it is purely visual
art rather than a real narrative a dreamlike mind-fuck of philosophical musings.
It is not a question of whether it is good or not as it does not conform to
cinematic conventions. Therefore, I will not be giving a rating for this
review, as it is hard for me to judge it on such terms. Whether you like the
film or not you will ultimately more likely all reach the same conclusion that it
is at least a unique work.
You can find out more about
Carlos Atanes’ work on his official website
and on his Youtube channel. His last
feature film ‘Gallino, the Chicken System’ (trailer) was released in 2012 and his latest
work his first music video ‘Esa Linna’s Meat Market’ can be seen here…
Dave J. Wilson
©2014 Cinematic Shocks, Dave J. Wilson
- All work is the property of the credited author and may not be reprinted or
reproduced elsewhere without permission.
Now I want to see this. I was on the fence before ...
ReplyDeleteIt's a curious oddity that's worth checking out.
ReplyDelete