Rhinoceros Eyes

From the first frame to the last I was completely caught up in the unique visual world created by first time director Aaron Woodley. The dark, cluttered prop house where the majority of the film takes place is a nostalgic and otherworldly cave of magic and threat. It is the home to childlike Chep, an employee who rarely leaves except to immerse himself in old films at the local cinema. When a production designer named Fran enters the prop house looking for a pair of genuine rhinoceros eyes, Chep is instantly smitten.

This film is rich in mood and atmosphere. It also has some great laughs and offbeat characters that are genuinely intriguing and not just annoyingly "quirky". The film is amazing to look at and there is even some creepy stop animation. But it is Chep who is the heart and soul of the film. Proving that he is more than just a pretty face, Michael Pitt delivers a heart breaking performance as the sweet and self conscious, reclusive who becomes increasingly desperate to please Fran and increasingly delusional about the nature of their relationship.

Being cool, funny, creepy and touching all at once can't be easy but Rhinoceros Eyes is all of those things and more - a cult classic for the future.

As one of the 6 films I had a chance to see at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival, it would have to be at the bottom of my list of recommendations. Slow doesn't begin to describe this somewhat "inspired" tale of a prop-shop worker named Chep (Pitt). Chep himself is a bit slow and experiencing some fantastical delusions. I felt like most of the movie, revolving around the search for some bizaar props, was filmed in ultra slo-mo. The dialouge was poorly timed, the acting was so muted it became painful (with the exception of supporting player Victor Ertmanis as "Sweets") to watch and the end so anti-climatic and directionless, I wondered how I would get those 90 minutes of my life back. I have read it compared to "Donnie Darko" and after seeing it, the only way that comparison works is that both carry a emotionally tortured lead characters. Pitt seems to summon more of a Giovanni Ribisi in "The Other Sister" (quietly endearing), than Jake Gyllenhaal in "Donnie Darko" (emotionally complex).

Without being to harsh, Paige Turco as the object of Chep's affections is a total casting zero. It's not terrible, but not memorable. Hopefully first time director Aaron Woodley will step back a bit from his attempts to be so "indie profound" in his next project.

Having just seen Rhinoceros Eyes, I want to tell fans of indie drama and horror to run, not walk to see this film if it comes anywhere near your town!

The film is a coming of age story about Chep (Michael Pitt), a reclusive young man with an unfortunate past, living in a prop shop...and in a fantasy world fueled by cinema and the props he surrounds himself with. Supporting characters include his boss (Matt Servitto of Sopranos fame), his love interest, and "the cop". Interesting characters float in and out of the story in a way that never fails to entertain and disturb.

I was reminded of films like Donnie Darko, and Repulsion; but Rhinoceros Eyes is its own entity. It is a creepy and frightening as it is funny and quirky. This film has some excellent camera work, and plenty of the symbolism indie film fans love to talk about afterwards. While the FX are reminicent of 70's childrens shows, this film is chilling, disturbing and fascinating all at once.

Maybe I should say it again, See This Film!

This is a seriously cool psyched out movie. Like some hybrid of Cronenberg Lynch and.well someone else with a great sense of humor. As someone once said to Cronenberg `you gotta take this movie to a shrink'. Rhino eyes is a case in point. The film is almost like some kind of psychological case study. Theres Chep - his ego, alter ego and ID - Masks, talking animated objects, a can-can dancing geriatric amputee and men dressed as Gorillas .

Michael Pitt is totally captivating as Chep who practically lives in a prophouse, eats, drinks and sleeps the place. When femme fatale Fran enters his life and sends him on expeditions to get more strange props for her, he starts discovering as the audience that theres a dangerously fine line between what's real and what's not. Then a cop starts investigating and pushes the reality/fanasty factor to stratispheric heights.

The whole thing plays like some ironic version of Homers Odessey journeyed inwards into the workings of the mind.

Awesome. The cinematography is amazing and makes the whole fantasy/reality thing work on so many levels. If you liked Donnie Darko, you' love Rhino. Oh yeah, and it's funny funny. I said that already, right!!

I wasn't sure what to expect when I finally sat down in the theatre for a screening of Aaron Woodley's directorial debut, Rhinoceros Eyes. Of course, the motivating factor behind me trying so damn hard to see this film was of course the fact that two of my favourite actors (Gale Harold as Detective Phil Barbara, and Michael Pitt as Chep) had big roles. Oh, and I was pretty impressed by the fact that Woodley is the nephew of the always fabulous Canadian director David Cronenberg (Crash, eXistenZ, Spider). I was almost certain I'd be in for something.not quite normal.

I found myself totally engaged in the story throughout. The irony of that fact that it was a film about a kid living in a movie prop house pretty much intrigued me right away. Of course without great character development and interaction the film would start to lose me; however, that never happened.

The film was essentially a well thought out mixture of comedy and horror. Woodley's satirical version of a common thriller worked well, since the audience seemed to be laughing at all the appropriate cues - a random naked man running across the screen and knocking over Pitt's character, the irony of Detective Barbara fawning over an old movie prop when the evidence of the crime he is investigating is right in front of him, the awkwardness of Chep and his ongoing murmuring to himself.the list goes on.

Michael Pitt delivered an astounding performance as the self-loathing orphan Chep- the boy who lived in a movie prop house- a reclusive character with little to no social skills, who embarks on a journey to find love by committing a streak of ridiculous crimes to please his love interest (Paige Turco as Fran).

As an art director, Fran is obsessed with the authenticity of her props. Enamored by her, Chep is willing to do whatever it takes to get these authentic props for her. On a side-note, I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Fran's obsession with authenticity in her props completely conflicts with her working in an industry where everything is fabricated or fake.

Chep continues to succeed in finding Fran her props, even though Detective Barbara appears to be hot on his trails. Gale Harold manages to pull off the imprudent character of Detective Phil Barbara seamlessly. His performance was both engaging and funny, as he used facial expression, body language and tone of voice to make the audience believe in the hilarity of his character. Oh and his little dance number near the end kept a wide smile glued on my face.

Small things I should mention - the fact that the film was shot entirely on High-Definition Digital Video, a format that hasn't evolved into the rich qualities of 35mm film yet. Woodley manages to pull off rich colours and tons of shadowy scenes loaded with contrast, even with the limitations of the format. Also, instead of adding in CGI characters to represent Chep's delusions, stop-motion animation was used, which gave them a more authentic feel. The weird characters created by Chep's mind that came to life actually looked like they were made from real objects. not a computerized creation.

I found that near the end of the film, it started to become difficult to decipher whether or not we were trapped inside the fantastical mind of Chep, or if we were witnessing what was actually happening. Also, there were some unanswered holes in the plot.which left it all open for me interpret. Which, I did.

But I'm not letting on what I personally gathered from the film, I strongly suggest you try and see it yourself.