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Pow Pow Noel
Other // Unrated // December 4, 2007
List Price: $20.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
At first glance upon the art for Pow! Pow! Noel, it's pretty difficult to ward off a befuddling headscratch or two. A darkened image of Santa Claus with an industrial size hypodermic needle doesn't exactly spell out a message of comfort. As such, this isn't your typical Christmastime piece of work. Robert Morin's self-navigated film about the lingering pain of familial disconnection aims to leave his audience with that lack of comfort right up until the credits roll. He accomplishes his task, harnessing and integrating each and every particle of distress within his film in both emotionally humane and unsettlingly coarse ways.
The Film:
Pow! Pow! Noel is a potent, curdling experience that takes place over a 24-hour period within an elderly man's extended care room over Christmas. He lays, thinned and crippled, in a near catatonic state as his son, the narrator / soliloquist / cameraman, sneaks into his room exceedingly late on Christmas Eve. Yes, sneaks; he weasels into his father's hospital room the night before a holiday for bizarre reasons unclear to Morin's audience at this point. This activity is captured with his personal handheld camera as it focuses on the exact point-of-view from Robert, who all the while brusquely mutters his embittered train of thought in French.
Is Morin in the mood for idle chatter and peaceful reminiscence with his father, Andre? Not really. Instead, Pow! Pow! Noel delves into the blackest of hearts to prep for its chaotic, hair-raising austerity. Morin's verbalized comments about his father embrace the quintessence of a hurtful and mangled youth. He tells his story, undoubtedly skewed towards one perspective, about how horrendously neglectful his workaholic father was. As his vision darts around the darkened room to familiar relics scattered about, his narrative seeps into our minds as he fires off double-edged, violently subdued lines of candor. You don't listen to Morin's story throughout the night - it's felt, like the sound of nails along a chalkboard.
That's an apt description for Pow! Pow! Noel - one that's on as positive a term as I can muster. Morin's dialogue and his focused point-of-view through his camera encapsulate his audience's attention, whether they want to engage or not. It's immersive and entrancingly potent, though at the same time highly painful to behold. While talking towards his sleeping father, there's a captivating level of intrigue as he scans the hospital room amidst his brooding rant. It's about as engrossing as an objectionable film can get.
Pow! Pow! Noel separates into two distinct personalities at this point; one resides in the dark as Robert badgers his sleeping father through stream of consciousness, while the other occurs when the light seeps into the room and Robert's father awakens (or is awakened). At this point, the film shifts from a bleak rampage of emotive energy to a nearly unwatchable barrage of restrained, sadistic torment. His verbose with father Morin is difficult, but his actions are much worse as he hints towards an imminent "execution". With his trusty camera, he documents his torturous activities with unabashed vulgarity, thus instilling a sense of suspense and repulsion into his audience.
There are three characters at play here: Robert, his father, and the hospital itself. The hospital tries to intervene in Robert's crude inquisition upon his father in the form of both regular and irregular Christmastime visits. Instead of each worker taking individual personalities, he lowers the hospital worker's meaningfulness to nothing more than distractions amidst his devious plan to punish his father. Robert allows the lot of them to do their work on his father, from his diaper changing to his agonizing lift onto his wheelchair, as he tapes his embarrassment in an effort to obliterate his egotism. Soon, the remedial torture of his father's struggle with everyday activity manages to usurp even his own scathing barrage.
It's a cruel picture, one where the lead actor and cameraman fights to justify his unhinged, torturous doings through unchallenged soliloquies. I felt trapped inside Morin's head during Pow! Pow! Noel, intrigued but at the same time fighting for departure from its magnetic agony. His rumbling verbal strength and edgy sanity kept my attention, even amidst some contemptuous images. Can I say I enjoyed Pow! Pow! Noel? Absolutely not. However, I can attest to the effectiveness of Morin's vengeful manifestation. His film isn't one so much about beginnings and conclusions, but more about how his character's imbalanced mentality adheres to all points in between. Morin's heartbreakingly real film unquestionably stuck with me for days afterwards, no matter how hard I tried to shake it.
The DVD:
Atopia brings Pow! Pow! Noel to DVD in a standard keepcase presentation with intriguing art across the entire package - disc, menus and all.
The Video:
Shot with a slightly above-the-mark standard camcorder, Morin's film isn't designed to be a visual feast. The intentionally 1.33:1 image reflects so, as it is meant to affect the viewer through a documentarian / memorial style of cinematography. As such, the colors across the board within the hospital, already notorious for a blasé palette, don't offer much in the richness department. Aliasing can be seen in several instances, as well. However, with the way some of the scenes are shot, I was impressed with the level of detail captured with his camera. Just remember that the film is meant to feel like a home movie in the hands of a competent filmmaker.
The Audio:
Dialogue is the important factor in Pow! Pow! Noel's presentation, and everything here sounded just fine in its Dolby Stereo offerings. Robert's voice stretched to the lower bass availability here and there, but most of the fidelity stays entrenched in its homemade film stratosphere. Though I relied on the English subtitles, which were very good, it seemed like every ounce of dialogue poured through all parties involved with as much vigor as the source can allow. The English subtitles are optional for those that speak French.
The Extras:
Aside from a collage of trailers for films that might appeal to fans of this particular piece, nothing.
-----
Final Thoughts:
Morin's vigorous dialogue and fervent drive against an ever-ticking clock infuses Pow! Pow! Noel with the counterbalance it needs to make it worth watching. It's an intriguing story packed with a slew of gripping themes regarding the psychological effects of neglecting family. With the unnerving way the film is portrayed and photographed, Morin's film isn't an experience likely to deliver enjoyment many times over. Give it a Rent to hear Morin's story and see the film unfold.
Thomas Spurlin, Staff Reviewer -- DVDTalk Reviews | Personal Blog/Site
The Film:
Pow! Pow! Noel is a potent, curdling experience that takes place over a 24-hour period within an elderly man's extended care room over Christmas. He lays, thinned and crippled, in a near catatonic state as his son, the narrator / soliloquist / cameraman, sneaks into his room exceedingly late on Christmas Eve. Yes, sneaks; he weasels into his father's hospital room the night before a holiday for bizarre reasons unclear to Morin's audience at this point. This activity is captured with his personal handheld camera as it focuses on the exact point-of-view from Robert, who all the while brusquely mutters his embittered train of thought in French.
Is Morin in the mood for idle chatter and peaceful reminiscence with his father, Andre? Not really. Instead, Pow! Pow! Noel delves into the blackest of hearts to prep for its chaotic, hair-raising austerity. Morin's verbalized comments about his father embrace the quintessence of a hurtful and mangled youth. He tells his story, undoubtedly skewed towards one perspective, about how horrendously neglectful his workaholic father was. As his vision darts around the darkened room to familiar relics scattered about, his narrative seeps into our minds as he fires off double-edged, violently subdued lines of candor. You don't listen to Morin's story throughout the night - it's felt, like the sound of nails along a chalkboard.
That's an apt description for Pow! Pow! Noel - one that's on as positive a term as I can muster. Morin's dialogue and his focused point-of-view through his camera encapsulate his audience's attention, whether they want to engage or not. It's immersive and entrancingly potent, though at the same time highly painful to behold. While talking towards his sleeping father, there's a captivating level of intrigue as he scans the hospital room amidst his brooding rant. It's about as engrossing as an objectionable film can get.
Pow! Pow! Noel separates into two distinct personalities at this point; one resides in the dark as Robert badgers his sleeping father through stream of consciousness, while the other occurs when the light seeps into the room and Robert's father awakens (or is awakened). At this point, the film shifts from a bleak rampage of emotive energy to a nearly unwatchable barrage of restrained, sadistic torment. His verbose with father Morin is difficult, but his actions are much worse as he hints towards an imminent "execution". With his trusty camera, he documents his torturous activities with unabashed vulgarity, thus instilling a sense of suspense and repulsion into his audience.
There are three characters at play here: Robert, his father, and the hospital itself. The hospital tries to intervene in Robert's crude inquisition upon his father in the form of both regular and irregular Christmastime visits. Instead of each worker taking individual personalities, he lowers the hospital worker's meaningfulness to nothing more than distractions amidst his devious plan to punish his father. Robert allows the lot of them to do their work on his father, from his diaper changing to his agonizing lift onto his wheelchair, as he tapes his embarrassment in an effort to obliterate his egotism. Soon, the remedial torture of his father's struggle with everyday activity manages to usurp even his own scathing barrage.
It's a cruel picture, one where the lead actor and cameraman fights to justify his unhinged, torturous doings through unchallenged soliloquies. I felt trapped inside Morin's head during Pow! Pow! Noel, intrigued but at the same time fighting for departure from its magnetic agony. His rumbling verbal strength and edgy sanity kept my attention, even amidst some contemptuous images. Can I say I enjoyed Pow! Pow! Noel? Absolutely not. However, I can attest to the effectiveness of Morin's vengeful manifestation. His film isn't one so much about beginnings and conclusions, but more about how his character's imbalanced mentality adheres to all points in between. Morin's heartbreakingly real film unquestionably stuck with me for days afterwards, no matter how hard I tried to shake it.
The DVD:
Atopia brings Pow! Pow! Noel to DVD in a standard keepcase presentation with intriguing art across the entire package - disc, menus and all.
The Video:
Shot with a slightly above-the-mark standard camcorder, Morin's film isn't designed to be a visual feast. The intentionally 1.33:1 image reflects so, as it is meant to affect the viewer through a documentarian / memorial style of cinematography. As such, the colors across the board within the hospital, already notorious for a blasé palette, don't offer much in the richness department. Aliasing can be seen in several instances, as well. However, with the way some of the scenes are shot, I was impressed with the level of detail captured with his camera. Just remember that the film is meant to feel like a home movie in the hands of a competent filmmaker.
The Audio:
Dialogue is the important factor in Pow! Pow! Noel's presentation, and everything here sounded just fine in its Dolby Stereo offerings. Robert's voice stretched to the lower bass availability here and there, but most of the fidelity stays entrenched in its homemade film stratosphere. Though I relied on the English subtitles, which were very good, it seemed like every ounce of dialogue poured through all parties involved with as much vigor as the source can allow. The English subtitles are optional for those that speak French.
The Extras:
Aside from a collage of trailers for films that might appeal to fans of this particular piece, nothing.
-----
Final Thoughts:
Morin's vigorous dialogue and fervent drive against an ever-ticking clock infuses Pow! Pow! Noel with the counterbalance it needs to make it worth watching. It's an intriguing story packed with a slew of gripping themes regarding the psychological effects of neglecting family. With the unnerving way the film is portrayed and photographed, Morin's film isn't an experience likely to deliver enjoyment many times over. Give it a Rent to hear Morin's story and see the film unfold.
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