Ghost Town Anthology

Ghost Town Anthology is a weird genreless French film where a town of just 215 dwellers somewhere near Quebec in interior Canada are haunted by living ghosts after an unfortunate accident that no one knows how happened. It is more about the idiosyncratic characters in the film that you get if you manage to endure the 90 minutes of confusing plot where the optimistic mayor is not afraid of whatever the village is about to experience and majority of the citizens are scrambling to find answers. From where or who they don't know. Much like what or why that I don't know or didn't get about Ghost Town Anthology, a film where I only dug the fine, haunting score. TN.

(Watched and reviewed at its India premiere at the 21st MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.)

Do you believe in ghosts? Do you believe in other dimensions? Do you believe in reincarnation? Ghost Town Anthology is a film that brings questions like this to the forefront of your consciousness. The film opens with a frigidly framed car crash, that appears to happen out of nowhere, finding a way to sneak between sounds of the wind blowing and the trees creaking. The driver of the car was Simon Dube played by Phillipe Charette, leaving behind his distraught parents Romuald played endearingly by Jean-Michel Anctil and Gisele played by Josée Deschênes. His older brother Jimmy played with skill by Robert Naylor picks the film up from his brother's death, beginning a search for his brother because in his mind he could not have just left him like that even though the audience can see that Jimmy knows the true cause of his brother's death and it was not accidental, making Jimmy's search for signs of his brother all the more heart wrenching. The father, Romuald, tells his wife Giselle he is going to buy cigarettes, ultimately leaving a note explaining that he needs time and space to mourn the death of his son. Personally the scenes that followed of the father Romuald and his grieving process were some of my favorite moments of the film and the director makes no attempt at making it clear if the father is ever going to actually return.

The director of Ghost Town Anthology, Dennis Cote has quite a vision and understanding of spiritual imagery and feeling, the sound design is something that is so unique and unnervingly special. The brilliance of it is chiefly noticeable in the fathers grieving scenes. Cote masks bleak desolate moving landscapes shot as if the camera has been mounted in a 1987 pickup truck, with sounds of wind, static, and crackling; the only difference being in the patterns the sounds play in is completely different from anything I have heard before. The film was shot in 16mm and in these brief moments the 16mm film looks much closer to 8mm film, clearly having been scratched and tampered with by the creators of the film and then developed in black and white to add to the lo-fi feelings being heavily transmitted through the film. The camera movements in these very vague almost elusive scenes is all the more interesting, if it doesn't feel like it's been mounted to a pickup truck, it feels as if it's been mounted to a wounded animal walking its way to its demise, trudging along the bare landscape.

The death of the boy sends shockwaves through the small town, ultimately becoming the sole focus of the town's mayor Simone Smallwood, played by Diane Lavallée, who appears to have one sole mission in life and that is to ensure that her town carries on its daily life, every day, with no change or help from outsiders. As a reaction to the boy's death, a political official known to Smallwood sends a psychiatrist from the "big city" to assist with the psychological effects of the boy's death in the town. The new face is quickly dismissed by the mayor who claims that the towns people is made up of "grown ups" and they can "handle themselves", leaving the story to the isolation of the few faces the audience has seen. One of the faces that is most intriguing is a woman named Adele, played by Larissa Corriveau. Adele is the type of character whom simply steals the camera because she has a look that is so unusual and uncanny. Her character is a supposed newcomer to the town, making it all the more interesting due to her severe social anxiety. Dennis Cote captures how one feels when they have social anxiety with swift minimalism, particularly in a scene early on in the film where he utilizes a tracking shot. The camera tracks Adele from the washroom of a New Year's Eve party, in the middle of a pep talk nonetheless, all the way through the party until she encounters Jimmy and his best friend Andre. The way Larissa Corriveau walks through the party, making sure to never once look in place, avoiding physical contact and eye contact is beyond an accurate depiction of social anxiety and she hits her marks perfectly. The dialogue between Adele, Jimmy and Andre is innocent and naturally dry, a true contender for the most cringe worthy moment in cinema this year.

As strange people begin to arrive in the town including Jimmy having an encounter with his recently deceased brother with no explanation and more and more of the townspeople beginning to see the people themselves the film shifts its gears to more serious questions. There are multiple scenes with supremely high tension in the gradual revealing of these strange arrivals to the town. The town's people begin to almost show frustration to their attendance, not because they are ghosts but because it further punctuates their isolation by having these people show up. What more of a reason to move to the big city than having the dead walk your neighbourhood, right? This commentary of life and death, and exposure versus isolation become very focal themes in the film and it makes for truly different cinema.

Overall the film is quite good, although at times disorganized and scattered with the plot and character development. Dennis Cote has made primarily documentaries and experimental films, having Ghost Town Anthology be considered as his first official feature film. The application of 16mm film and shaky cam prove effective in not only the setting and story but mesh perfectly with Cote's eye and style. The film feels as if it is a short film that has been extended and obviously this can be attributed to Cote's former projects. It would be interesting to see him apply his eye for human nature and psychology to something slightly less experimental. In the end Ghost Town Anthology raises lots of questions about life, death, reincarnation and having enough time, and it is a quality contribution to the supernatural genre.

Saw this at the Berlinale 2019, where it was part of the official Competition (but got no prize). Peculiarly, the venue was only half full, contrary to all other screenings in foregoing days in the Berlinale Competition with usually 1,750 viewers present in the same venue. I assume that many people thought this movie had all appearances of a downtrodder path Horror movie with zombies. That genre left traces by everyone, caused by bad B-movies we all sat through in the past but avoid them nowadays. However, this movie does not have any of the negative characteristics of said genre with a bad reputation. It is true that strange figures appear when the story progresses, but they stand still, make no sound and do not attack. They just stare from a safe distance.

The fatal car accident in the opening scene could have been a suicide or a real accident. We saw it happen and we can't tell either way, and neither has the police any idea. The dilemma casts a shadow over all daily tasks within the village. The uncertainty eats the villagers, and the topic returns several times in conversations. It is a closed community of 200 to 300 people, committed to support each other, to the extent that outside help is flatly refused by the mayor.

At first, we see nothing out of the ordinary. But strange things start happening, albeit innocent and harmless. Gradually, it gets stranger and stranger. The first time that we come to think there is more to it than just strangers wandering around, is when a "social worker lady" is locked up after one of the unknown figures outside a derilicted building slams the door while she is inside. No harm gets to her, she easily escapes and reports the incident. Without any witnesses she meets nothing but disbelief. Probably a "weak nerves" case is a common conclusion.

When more and more strange figures appear, we become gradually aware that something is really going on. The figures do not harm anyone. They maintain a safe distance from the villagers, they just stand there and make no sound. Nevertheless, their mere presence feels threatening. It is no use to describe what happens next. Suffice to say that situation and atmosphere "got" me. It became more intense by the minute. I have no explanation why, and also no idea how the film makers achieved the effect it had. For me a unique experience, as most "horror" movies have no effect on me at all.

I must confess to be slightly put off at first, due to the festival announcement talking about the 16 mm format intended to strengthen the admosphere, and that traditional celluloid was used for similar reasons. This sounded like a typical case of format-over-substance. In other words, conversation pieces for professional critics and film makers, but shooting over the heads of layman viewers like myself. But I stand corrected and my prejudice proved false. Despite the format and the cellulloid, or maybe even thanks to this, the atmosphere took me in and kept me interested all the time.

All in all, an intriguing movie by effectively letting a tense atmosphere grow on me, something I felt deep inside. I wonder how the film makers did it.

Pros: 1. The colour palette of grey, white, black, and brown helps to cement a bleak and oppressive atmosphere. 2. Robert Taylor (Jimmy Dubé), Josée Deschênes (Gisèle Dubé), Larissa Corriveau (Adèle), and Diane Lavallée (Simone Smallwood) give great performances. 3. The score brilliantly enshrines the movie in an eerily disturbing tone. 4. For the most part, the film keeps the spirit of Simon Dubé (Philippe Charrette), as well as the other spirits, out of the view of the audience. This builds up the mystery and intrigue masterfully. 5. The sound design is crisp and clear, and it highlights, and really brings forth, the theme of loneliness excellently, by emphasising just how remote the town is.

Cons: 1. There are a few plot-holes. For example, it's never explained why Adèle just starts floating mid-air. In addition, when the towns-people find out the dead are watching them, they react (mostly) as if it's normal. 2. The camera tends to jerk and shake an obscene amount of times. Surely they could have found a way to steady the camera via a tripod, or something along those lines. 3. At times, the pacing is far too slow therefore becoming a bit of a chore to get through. 4. The paranormal sub-plot and the overcoming of Simon Dubé's death plot don't mix well at all. They feel like two separate story-lines jostling for attention. In fact, the paranormal part ends up overshadowing the latter in regards to both, entertainment and memorability.

Its a horror without those ghost who have dirty fleshy skin who look like bunch of burned people this is a uniqe and simple horror movie , hence its beautiful