South of Pico
November 2008 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

After a title card that tells us the events we are about to see are based on real ones, we hear indistinct voices, then the sound of an automobile crash. The screen comes to life to reveal a snail slowly moving toward what to us would be a step, to the snail a precipice. Then the camera draws back to reveal four characters, two vehicles, and a bicycle. We get close-ups of the characters, and they all look traumatized. Several are bloody. We find out later that these four are: Carla (Gina Torres), a waitress; Dr. Walter Chambers (Henry Simmons), a pediatrician; Robert (Kip Pardue), a limousine driver; and Patrick (Soren Fulton), a 15-year-old boy. We are then shown back stories on these four, and one other showing what took place in their lives during the previous 12 hours to bring them together.

Sounds like the Oscar-winning movie Crash, doesn’t it? Well, yes, but there are some major differences. In this film the flashbacks are as clear as can be. These people do not interact with each other at all; they have their own stories and are only brought together by fate. The movie is not at all about race, though some of the characters are African-American, some are Hispanic, and some are Caucasian. First-time feature director Enrst Gossner has gone on record in an Internet interview as saying that his film shows that all races are affected the same way and react accordingly, regardless of race. So race is a total non-issue here.

The back stories of the characters are not developed, just the 12 hours preceding the climatic incident. Some might find this a narrative dodge and think that 85 minutes are too few for this movie. I found it refreshing that one has to accept the actions of these characters as happening without necessarily knowing why. There are clues, and we can guess, but never be certain. The limo driver’s girlfriend has left him because he cheated on her with a best friend. We know that fact, but we never know why he did it. The parents of a terminally ill child (Jimmy Bennett) refuse to take him back home, where he wants to go, as they don’t want to watch him die. Instead they insist he go through more excruciatingly painful treatments. We don’t know why they behave that way. And so on. Since the time is limited, we never are forced to spend too much time on any of the short stories, and they are carefully interwoven to remain clear, concise, and engaging. No wallowing allowed.

There’s little to say about the DVD, except thanks to Image Entertainment for releasing it. With such a limited theatrical distribution as this movie had, almost everyone is going to see it at home, not in a theater. The transfer seems just fine. The colors are bright and natural, sort of like what you see on your local six o’clock news. The audio is quite adequate. There’s not much going on up front except for the voices, as it is a dialogue-driven movie. The music on the soundtrack can be a little overbearing at times, turning into the film’s only manipulative agent, but these instances are rare. In terms of extras, there’s only a trailer and a few trailers for other independent films. This is strictly a bare-bones release.

The movie won several awards, two from the American Black Film Festival. This is singular, because Gossner is Austrian, living in Los Angeles for the past eight years. He is only 31, and before Pico he had only done short films. But many of those received great attention. He is obviously competent as far as his craft goes, and beyond that, inspired and inspiring at getting A-level performances out of actors largely known for their supporting roles on television. South of Pico is not a great movie, but it has moments of greatness that deserve to be seen. One should watch Gossner’s career. His next movie is a documentary called Global Warning, now in production. It’s set in his native Austria, where global warming is causing the glaciers to recede. As they do, they are spitting out relics of World War I, from mummified bodies to ammunition that is still live. Truth really is sometimes stranger than fiction.

I am not going to recommend that you buy this title until you’ve seen it, but I will recommend that you rent it and give it a look.

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