Director Mike Davis is aware of there’s a treasure trove of public area footage simply ready to be recycled.
“I wished to make a movie, however I didn’t have any cash,” the director advised the viewers at this 12 months’s Pittsburgh Shifting Image Pageant in Sewickley, Pa.
So he tapped that provide of forgotten video for the cultural satire “Lifeless, White & Blue.” The comedy presents a gradual stream of huge, surprising laughs together with loads of social commentary, almost all from the Left facet of the political aisle.
Humorous is humorous, and also you don’t must share Davis’ worldview to snort, and snort quite a bit, at this completely authentic movie.
The story, though utilizing that time period defies the undertaking’s stream-of-consciousness spirit, follows an Atlanta mayor’s abduction. In the meantime, a black man has been shot by a racist white cop, and each the U.S. Navy and the KKK are attempting to retrieve the bullet that took him down for disparate causes.
How? It entails a weird shrinking experiment that’s so patently foolish it suits with the movie’s absurdist tone.
From there, Davis concocts a comedy with almost as many jokes as “Airplane!” Most land as meant, from sly innuendos to working gags that by no means put on out their welcome.
The inventory and public area footage in play possible hail from the Nineteen Fifties via the early Nineteen Nineties. It’s been stitched collectively by Davis and his artistic group, at occasions making a surprisingly easy sequence of occasions.
The footage alone is typically howl-worthy. What have been they pondering?
The movie’s dubbed dialogue, usually with flat line readings that make the punch strains funnier, sells the fabric. Even when the narrative seems to fly in a dozen new instructions.
The KKK performs a large function within the story, resulting in infinite puns and a few sly sight gags.
The movie’s retro look matches its societal X-ray. It’s 2025 and race relations aren’t just like the societal landmines depicted right here. Not even shut.
That takes the sting from a few of the gags, notably jokes tied to police brutality. The movie’s wry dialogue and popular culture consciousness imply all audiences can recognize the humor, if not the cultural perspective.
Just a few jokes are nonetheless groaners, like a quip about Israeli forces bombing hospitals and a fast banned books apart.
“Lifeless, White & Blue” is pure gimmick, however the script makes certain it could possibly maintain its feature-length working time. It’s simple to think about this method being replicated for a limited-run sequence on any variety of selection matters.
The sky’s the restrict when an indie filmmaker units his or her thoughts to it. That’s exactly why Davis’ “Lifeless, White & Blue” appears like a minor revelation. And a hilarious one at that.
“Lifeless, White & Blue” screened on the Pittsburgh Shifting Image Pageant on Oct. 4.
HiT or Miss: “Lifeless, White & Blue” is a fiercely authentic comedy culled from forgotten movies that’s certain to make audiences howl.