Steven Piet's Uncle John is an impressive, audacious achievement, a film which manages to seamlessly blend a slow-burning mystery/thriller with the tenderness of a compelling mumblecore-esque love story. Featuring dual narratives that eventually merge, the film tells the story of two generations of family, Uncle John, a well-liked old man who makes a living in the countryside as a carpenter, and Ben, John's nephew, who makes his living as an animator in Chicago. John has just killed Dutch, a man who has brought a lot of frustration and misery to many nice people around town. Since Dutch has gone missing, no one has even considered John may be responsible, no one except Danny, Dutch's drunkard brother. Meanwhile, Ben lives somewhat of a lonely existence in Chicago, that is until Kate, a new coworker, comes into his life. Told mostly as two completely segregated tales, the two narratives merge when Ben takes an impromptu trip to his hometown with Kate, visiting his uncle who continues to struggle to evade growing suspicions into Dutch's disappearance. Uncle John is a film that manages both narratives extremely well, with John's story being a haunting examination of regret and grief, while Ben's offers up a tender and heartfelt story of romance. The film has a quietly haunting atmosphere which engulfs the whole film, using cinematography that evokes a meditative sense of regret and repentance in particularly with John, but also with Ben's inner-struggle to deal with his feelings for his co-worker, at least early on. The film's cinematography also does a great job at linking these two characters even before their stories merge, using similar shot compositions with each character that evokes a sense of them being one of the same. While these dueling narratives may feel like they have very little in common outside of the uncle/nephew relationship, I'd argue the two stories work subtlety in unison to deconstruct love, family, and paternity with Ben's own new relationship being a nuanced 'passing of the torch', a positive moving forward from the pain and loss John still feels from the loss of his sister. Featuring stellar performances from everyone involved, Steven Piet's Uncle John is a great example of what independent cinema is capable of, an audacious effort that is both haunting and life-affirming as it tackles issues of loss, death, love, and life.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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