Mur 19

Mark Rappaport's first film commences with Gerald Mur "studying the cinema" in the form of a blow-up glamor shot of "La Garbo." Then "the cinema" studies Gerald (from numerous angles) followed by a standoff as filmmaker and subject circle one another, dueling with cameras to determine who's watcher and who's watched. Gerald's philosophical soundtrack musings ("People don't ask for beauty, they'll settle for less ugliness," "To live together destroys integrity") suggest a preference for the abstract over the intimate that's borne out when our protagonist finds a turbulent romantic interest (Teresa O'Connor). Yet in this chaptered black-and-white meditation on art and life, it's possible "true love" (should it exist outside the movies) might win out for the first and possibly the last time in this unique American independent oeuvre.