Prince Avalanche, the only comedy among the Berlin Film festival's 19 contenders, won the Silver Bear for best director – David Gordon Green.
Driven by striking performances from Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch, the movie is an offbeat comedy about two men painting traffic lines on a desolate country highway that's been ravaged by wildfire.
Against this dramatic setting, beautifully shot by frequent Green collaborator Tim Orr, the men bicker and joke with each other, eventually developing an unlikely friendship.
Premiered at the Sundance 2013, funny, meditative and at times surreal, Prince Avalanche, was loosely adapted from an Icelandic film called Either Way.
Here's the official synopsis:
An odd couple of sorts, Alvin (Paul Rudd), meditative and stern, and his girlfriend's brother Lance (Emile Hirsch), dopey and insecure, leave the city behind to spend the summer in solitude repainting traffic lines down the center of a country highway ravaged by wildfire.
As the two begin their gradual journey across the landscape, swapping stories and butting heads, what unfolds is an unexpectedly humorous yet moving examination of an unlikely friendship that reveals distinct approaches to finding one's way in life…
In Prince Avalanche, American filmmaker David Gordon Green exhibits his mastery for infusing poignant character study with comedic insight through subtle shifts in tone, incisive dialogue, and a profound appreciation for place.
Set to the haunting backdrop of a barren expanse of burnt-out Texas wilderness – whose melancholic beauty is accentuated with the music of the rock band Explosions in the Sky and collaborator David Wingo's stunning score as well as Tim Orr's sweeping cinematography – Prince Avalanche bucks convention by exploring male bonding in a refreshingly genuine – and often absurdist – way. Adapted from Either Way, an Icelandic film, Prince Avalanche is driven by strong performances by the two male leads.
Prince Avalanche will probably be released in the summer of 2013.
