A brilliant surrealist work in which disturbing violence is imbued with a sense of childlike wonder, ‘The Beast Pageant’ is reminiscent of the works of master filmmakers like David Lynch and Terry Gilliam. Beautifully photographed in striking black and white, the film is at once gorgeous and gritty, harmless and yet deeply affecting.

In its juxtaposition of urban claustrophobia and boundless freedom in the beckoning wild, the film has a dynamic quality in its exploration of real-world anxiety and dream-like bliss. The film is often entrancing, and its provocative images are occasionally complemented by an array of rich, original musical numbers.

‘The Beast Pageant’ centers on Abraham (Jon Moses), who lives in a small, absurdly designed apartment in which a giant machine caters to his every need. His job at a fish manufacturing plant is wearing him out. At the same time, an alternate beautiful world of pine and rock-covered creatures calls out to him.

The film was directed by College of Visual and Performing Arts alumnus Albert Birney and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications alumnus Jon Moses and produced by Nicholas Gurewitch, also an SU alumnus and the Perry Bible Fellowship cartoonist. This showcases a unique example of VPA and Newhouse working together. The filmmakers said they were never concerned with their specific school affiliations, however, recognizing that the partnership was simply meant to be.

‘I met Jon my junior year at Syracuse,’ Birney said. ‘At the time, Nicholas Gurewitch and I were the comic editors at The Daily Orange, and one night Jon came by to talk comics. Jon showed us some of his comics from high school, and I knew right away that Jon was a brother for life.’

According to the film’s fascinating back story, Birney and Moses started production when they found a 16mm Bolex camera in a dumpster behind a hospital in Baltimore. They proceeded to shoot the film with a practically nonexistent budget, relying heavily on the support of friends who shared their passion.

‘We found most of the props and costumes in the garbage,’ Birney said. ‘A friend was renovating a house so we got old floorboards, sinks and doors. We built a lot of the sets with paper-mache and discarded wood. Our crew was a beautiful bunch of friends that we met around town.’

Despite the film being a three-year endeavor, Birney and Moses said they thoroughly enjoyed the process of making the film, which eventually took on a life of its own.

‘‘The Beast Pageant’ felt like a living thing, an organic master telling us what it wanted, making unusual demands like gathering pounds of dead fish and being covered in cottage cheese,’ Moses said. ‘It constantly changed and evolved until the end product was clear and the monster was alive.’

The filmmakers raved about the uniqueness of a setting that some might deem uninteresting, as the movie was shot mostly in Rochester, N.Y.

‘Upstate New Yorkis a magical land where anything is possible,’ Moses said. ‘You can drive 10 minutes in any direction and see endless blue skies and rolling green hills. There’s also old factories and decaying buildings that look great on film.’

Dubbed a ‘neo-surrealist musical’ by SU film professor Miso Suchy, the film has garnered a great deal of praise since its September premiere at the George Eastman House in Rochester. Birney and Moses are currently preparing to send ‘The Beast Pageant’ to film festivals across the country, where it is certain to draw attention.

Jim Healy, who selected the film to be screened at the Eastman House, is one of Moses and Birney’s greatest supporters.

‘I’ve said before that the movie is like ‘Brazil’ and ‘Eraserhead’ as filtered through the sensibility of Dr. Seuss and Maurice Sendak,’ Healy said. Healy is now the director of programming at the Universityof Wisconsin Cinematheque.

A rare surrealist film that does not feel in any way pretentious, ‘The Beast Pageant’ is truly a great achievement. There is not a single dull or lifeless frame in the 74-minute film, which constantly evolves as it hurtles toward its riveting, cathartic climax.

Born in upstate New Yorkand bound to find homes across the country, ‘The Beast Pageant’ is that special, locally grown work of art indebted to its location. After three years of work, Birney and Moses are now ready to show the film to anyone willing to watch.

‘We’re submitting it to festivals now, but we’ll show it in a basement or on a barn or under a bridge,’ Birney said. ‘Hopefully next summer we can drive around with a projector and see the country. I’ve had a dream since I was a little boy of seeing San Antonio.’

smlittma@syr.edu

 

Published on November 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm