The Arriviste Movie Review
Newcomer filmmaker Pascal Santschi contacted me and asked me to watch and review his very independent film, the Arriviste. I am a big fan of indy films and am of course happy to view a screener, so was glad to oblige.
I think the best word to describe this film is Ambitious, with a capital A. It is obviously a labor of love, with Mr. Santschi more or less doing all the writing, directing, shooting, scoring, editing, and now marketing of the film. It puts the “ow” in low budget, but wears the label proudly as a badge of honor. It is the lowest budget film ever produced on 35mm at $9,500, and to be honest I have seen worse films done with literally 2,000 times the budget.
That being said, it definitely suffers from all the gremlins that plague a low budget film; poor shot quality, framing issues, limited scene location, a lack of action or believable special effects, mediocre sound quality, homemade score, poor lighting in most scenes, and shaky camera work. The film is shot in NYC, yet somehow fails to carry the location across. It could have been shot in any urban city in America. However, due to the nature of the budget and my own love of indie films I am going to suspend my usual star/black hole rating system, as the technical issues alone would rack up an unfair amount black holes rapidly. I would like to give Pascal props for pulling off a completely guerilla shooting production, something that hearkens me back to my days in art school.
The film looks, sounds, and feels like an early 70’s American or late 70’s French hard boiled crime drama. It follows young Nick, a troubled guy on probation, looking for the lost corpse of his dead older brother William. William was blackmailing some people, and they seem to believe Nick has it. William also had a generous life insurance policy which Nick is supposed to be the beneficiary of, but he can’t collect it until he proves his brother is dead (hence the need to find the corpse). There is another guy trying to buy out the policy from Nick, the people looking for Williams information, and a reporter trying to get the details in order to sell his true crime novel. A nurse shows up as the only female character and has her own agenda as well. 
To be perfectly blunt for most of the movie I really thought the plot was a little too complex and convoluted for my soft brain, but at the end the script pulls out a couple of twists that tie things up nicely in a manner I found pleasing (I Thought the Wizard Promise You a Brain image courtesy of the Cheap T Shirt category).
Like I said, I won’t get into my normal nit picky stars/black holes on this. I will say this film, while chock full of low budget and overambitious problems, had seeds of brilliance sown in as well. I thought the editing was excellent. The acting ran hot and cold, but then out of nowhere a scene that was exceptionally well acted would appear. There were all kinds of camera and shot problems, but then a shot would come that was exceptionally well done.
So was this film good or not? If you try to compare it to most current films with a budget you might not think so. Odds are you will find the grainy film quality difficult to enjoy. However, if you take it for what I see it as-a dedicated attempt at a guy to break into film making without having to do all the creativity crushing menial bull crap that Hollywood uses to make sure everyone continues to toe the line and keep producing rote garbage like any of the Transformers movies-than it is absolutely amazing. Should you try to see this movie? If you are a fan of rote garbage and think movies are somehow improved if you can see them in 3D probably not. If you have an appreciation for the different, enjoy independent films, are now or have ever studied film seriously, or just want a glimpse into the heart of a true artist and believer, absolutely. When you see a movie this raw and bare bones you can actually perceive the movie making process, and I find that refreshing.
Thanks for reading, and thanks to Pascal Santschi for letting me see this film and review it. I honestly would like to see what he could do given a bigger than 4 figure budget, so if anyone out there is looking to support what could be a great future movie talent consider contacting him. I will go ahead and link the Arriviste Facebook Page here. Follow me on Twitter @NerdKungFu or email me with comments, suggestions, or invitations to screen your films at [email protected]. Talk to you soon.
Dave
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