Chichester Cinema at New Park
Good Dick
CHICHESTER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
(With Thanks to The Works for this English Premiere)
There’s no denying the simple fact that sometimes, in life, you just want to pay for your porn and go. No questions, no chitchat, just the porn. Thank you. However, for the female protagonist of Marianna Palka’s feature film debut Good Dick, such intentions get severely thrown by the wayside when a boy at the video shop decides to use her penchant for soft core erotica as a catalyst for forging a relationship between the two of them. He sneaks her address from the customer database, and soon finds himself peering through her window, watching as she becomes intimate with her evening movie rentals. He identifies a kindred messed-up spirit in this girl. And for him, it’s love.
She, on the other hand, resolutely denies both his physical and emotional advances. She is hostile and abusive, belittling everything from his clinginess to his penis size. Palka (who also stars in the film) crafts some excruciatingly awkward and uncomfortable scenes that truly take the give and take nature of human interaction into provocative, uncharted territory. Even more intriguing is how little backstory is made known about our central, nameless figures – above all, just how they got to be the way they are. Any elucidatory reveals are chosen sparingly, though by keeping distance from the conventional flow of narrative norm Palka allows what little explanatory bubbles there are to rise to the surface with compelling force and resonance.
The premise of troubled romance between two damaged souls is offered here in a reverse take on sexual dynamics, and with her refusal to water down difficult subject matter Scottish-born writer, director & performer Marianna Palka achieves a unique & unflinching vision – receiving high praise at its Edinburgh Première.
(Tickets £7)
USA · 2008 · Marianna Palka · 86min
