Mumblecore is an independent film movement generally believed to have its roots in the early 2000’s. It is primarily characterized by ultra-low budget production (often employing digital video cameras), focus on personal relationships between twenty-somethings, improvised scripts, and non-professional actors. Filmmakers and brothers Mark and Jay Duplass, who gained notoriety with their debut film The Puffy Chair (2005), are considered influential figures in the genre.
The Duplass brothers’ latest film, Baghead was originally marketed as a horror film. While the story does have a certain level of tension, it would be disingenuous to call the film true horror. After going to a showing of a well-received black-and-white independent film, four would-be actors, Matt (Ross Partridge), his former girlfriend Catherine (Elise Muller), who worries about maintaining a screen friendly backside, Michelle (Greta Gerwig) the pixie of the bunch and Matt’s self-loathing buddy Chad (Steve Zissis) decide to retreat to a cabin in the woods to work on a screenplay.
The screenplay is about four people in a cabin in the woods (i.e., themselves), who are threatened by a guy with a bag over his head. I’m only guessing it’s a guy, I don’t think a girl would do something so dumb. Anyway, they work on this screenplay; drink a lot, try to sleep with each other. The idea for the film comes from one of the girl’s belief that she sees a man with a paper bag on his head watching her from the woods. She tells the rest of the group, and they decide the story would make an excellent film. Of course, there is a problem. The would-be filmmakers have to make it out of the woods alive. After all, the killer might not appreciate them making a film out of his hobby. We are left to wonder, is this truly the work of a psycho, or is this or just, as the press notes jokily call it, “a Scooby-Doo narrative”?
I suppose it would be easier to care about the answer to that question if the acting was any good. Watching four bad actors try to improve their way through Baghead, negates much of the suspense the Duplass brothers have created with the introduction of a possible killer. The dialogue contains way too many cries of “Matt!” and “Catherine!” and “Chad!” and “Michelle!” and “Matt! Where are you, Matt?” If you’re going to use improvisation, do it with some flair and originality. Bad improv on screen is far scarier than a maybe slasher with a bag over his head, on the big screen.
The Duplasses’ movies will probably never win awards for cinematography or production design, but the ragged visuals fit the material. The colors are muted and focus is often temporarily lost during a shot, yet the scrappy spirit of low budget filmmaking shines through.
The Duplasses use only a minimal score for “Baghead.” The dialogue is clear, easy to understand, which is key for such a dialogue-driven film, and the overall sound is clean.
Baghead offers a few special features:
Audio Commentary – Directors Mark and Jay Duplass reminisce about the production of Bahead and briefly talk about the history of mumblecore. The brothers go into detail about the improvisational nature of the film and how it affected several scenes. They also point out that Elise Muller basically plays herself, a B-movie star, since she’s been in two “shark” films.
Mark and Jay Duplass Answer Questions They’ve Already Answered (15:50) – Insisting that they had no time to be properly interviewed while this DVD was being put together, Mark and Jay ask each other questions they’ve been asked before, while playing with their children. The brothers stick to basic questions, which never lead to intriguing answers or something that hasn’t already been covered during the commentary. Mark and Jay seemed more interested in getting their children to “coo” than answer any thought-provoking questions.
Baghead Scares (1:49) – A guy, wearing a bag on his head, scares random people.
