You see, that’s exactly the thing about the Cannes Film Festival – you can even see a movie with title like this – Shit Year and have a freedom to write “shit” all over the report. Just joking.
But I still like this Cam Archer‘s new project, with lovely Ellen Barkin in the leading role. Actually, everything about Shit Year looked perfect from the first moment, especially this picture with Ellen’s double-sad-clown-with-cigarette face. I mean, is there better way to describe something titled Shit Year? Guess not.
So, here’s the synopsis part: “Renowned actress Collen West abandons her successful career for a secluded life in the hills. But the quiet and peace of mind she longed for is disrupted by the noisy construction of neighboring housing developments. Before long, Colleen discovers that she really can’t stand herself now that she has given up the only thing that she has ever truly been passionate about.
Shit Year
As an alternative to isolation, she reluctantly befriends her jubilant, whimsical neighbor and reconnects with her estranged brother who drops by unannounced after hearing about her retirement. Haunted by loneliness and past desires, Colleen begins to feel as if she has lived her life through the characters she has played on stage and screen.
Ultimately, she is forced to confront loss, her failures and mistakes, by reliving a recent affair with younger actor Harvey West whom she met during her final stage performance. Reality becomes inseparable from Colleen’s unhinged obsessions in a hallucinatory struggle to accept her own vulnerability and reclaim herself…”
I had a chance to read some reviews about this one and looks like this is not exactly the favorite movie, but I like it! Not just because Barkin is in it, but mostly because it’s kind of tragic thing to see so much disappointment in one woman.
Main cast also includes Luke Grimes, Melora Walters, Theresa Randle and Bob Einstein.
And I like the way director Cam Archer explained some things about Shit Year. Check his words, because this is, perhaps, the best way to describe this movie:
“People who choose to pretend to be someone else for a living, intrigue me. Colleen seems to feel that she deserves a certain kind of recognition. I like that her success as an actress is more or less undefined. Though I think it is clear that the work, her craft, has defined her in the past, or continues to define her in the present, we know very little of what that work entailed.
When you take away the thing that defines you, or in some way prevent your self from doing what you do best, the glue begins to crack.” Definitely something to think about!
