movie review and Editorial 4.7, August/September 2002, by Deirdre Helfferich Christmas in the Clouds I was privileged enough to see a movie the other evening that most of you might not get to see—not unless the producers, actors, writers, and investors—and public—are very lucky. And why wouldn’t you be likely to see it? Because it’s an independent film. Thela Clayton regularly reviews indies in these pages, but it’s a sad fact that a lot of really good flicks just don’t get the attention and distribution they deserve. Some of them never get into a theatre at all, much less a video store. Yet absolute dogs get big advertising budgets, releases that put them in theatres all over the nation, and millions of dollars in revenue as people go—once—to see what the fuss is about. The quality of the film is not the factor that decides whether a film will receive attention and widespread distribution. Christmas in the Clouds, written and directed by Kate Montgomery and produced by, among others, Brian Wescott, locally-grown (Ester Dome Summit) actor, writer, and all-around theatre and film nut, is one of the funniest films I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in a long, long time. There were literally tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. If any film deserves massive distribution all over the continent, it is this one. Christmas in the Clouds is a romantic, screwball comedy of errors set at a ski resort owned by a tribe of Ute Indians. The general manager of the resort, Ray Clouds on Fire, is played by Choctaw actor Tim Vahle, who does a credible job of the earnest young (and handsome) guy trying to do right by the financial bottom line. Trouble is, he’s been away at college and is a bit out of touch, although he means well. Vahle had his character express exactly the right balance of naïveté, spur-of-the-moment inventiveness, and frustrated incredulity throughout the film: his character had me thoroughly entranced as a caring, somewhat bemused, and somewhat dense (if educated) young man getting himself into some truly silly situations. Ray’s father, Joe Clouds On Fire, is portrayed by Sam Vlahos, and his character gets some hilarious scenes and dialogue which made the film for me. Joe is a retired chief and really, really wants a new truck, in particular the shiny new red Jeep Cherokee that has been offered as a bingo prize. (Joe’s old truck is a rusty sky-blue Apache that’s on its last wheels.) Joe has been corresponding with a Mohawk woman on the East Coast whom he has never met. This woman, Tina, played by MariAna Tosca, decides to come to see her pen pal anonymously, never realizing that he’s a good thirty years her senior. She arrives at the resort, checking in under an Italian name, and is mistaken as the reviewer for a prestigious travel magazine, the Worthington Guide. The real hotel critic is portrayed by Emmet Walsh, and of course, nobody dreams that this bad-tempered slob with a drinking problem is the one they want to impress. Tina, on the other hand, spots manager Ray with a letter in his pocket all ready to mail off to New York—to her. (Ray has promised to mail it for his father.) Ray, thinking she’s the Worthington reviewer, but not wanting to let her know he knows, gives her special treatment while trying to keep the staff from giving her extravagantly good (and therefore suspicious) treatment. Handsome young man meets beautiful young woman, sparks fly and they start to fall in love, still trying not to let the each other know that they know who they are—they think. One of the co-producers, Sheila Tousey, gives a memorable and absolutely hilarious performance as Mary, the desk manager. Her weakness for romance novels is shared by Phil the maintenance man with a testosterone problem (Jonathan Joss) and the vegetarian chef Earl (another wonderful performance, by Graham Greene) who doesn’t want to cook meat and tries to subtly discourage the guests from eating it. Earl’s not good at subtle. Ray has his hands full trying to keep the resort going while impressing the supposed hotel critic, and all the time praying for snow. It’s hard to have a ski resort with no snow. One of the best things about this movie was the numerous pokes at the traditional portrayal of Natives in movies and literature, as well as jokes about the movie business in general. The romance novel that everyone seems to be reading features a robust, manly hero named Buffalo Thunder; the female lead uses an Italian name to disguise herself (actors of Italian or other Mediterranean extraction often played the Indians in old Westerns, spaghetti or otherwise); a TV talk show features a not-so-humble recovering alcoholic; the subtitled Indian language doesn’t mean what the translator tells you it means; and that terrible blizzard is so obviously fake snow in a room with a blower that it hearkens back to campy old survival dramas with its tongue firmly in cheek. Brian Wescott did tell me, however, that the florid red sunset in the final scene was genuine—no tricks with the camera. The only false moment in the film was the sudden appearance of a bear, which struck me as improbable. Everything else was delightful. Wescott, like Tousey, was one of the co-producers of the film, and also appears in the movie, playing the part of a trooper. He wasn’t the only Alaskan, however. A couple of members of the musical group Paomaio, out of Anchorage, were also in the film, and gave a rendition of "Silent Night" in Yup’ik. Some of the extras were Alaska Natives, too. Christmas in the Clouds is a feel-good family movie with a wicked sense of humor, full of in-jokes and cultural satire. This is the kind of movie made to last, packed so full of little tidbits that I could see it again and again. Apparently a lot of other people see it that way, too, because it’s been winning awards, according to the website (www.warriormouse.com). The first hurdle in making a movie, after getting a good script, is finding someone to finance the production. After it’s made, the next hurdle is getting someone to distribute it. Many independent films are also independently distributed, in part because the big distributors are very conservative about anything different. This movie is different, all right, but it’s a winner, and word of mouth will sell it if the giant companies don’t. Let’s hope somebody distributes it soon, because I want to see it at the Loon. Twice. | ||
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