"Bellflower" Blu-Ray Review - Written by Anthony T

Bellflower
Year: 2011
Director: Evan Glodell
Stars: Evan Glodell, Jessie Wiseman, Tlyer Dawson
Studio: Oscilloscope Laboratories
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 107 Mins

Plot Synopsis:

Before hitting theaters for a limited run, I was interested with "Bellflower", because the concept and buzz surrounding the film. The film recently played at this year's Sundance and SXSW Film Festival.

"Bellflower" follows best friends Woodrow and Aiden, who spend all of their free time building a Mad Max flamethrower car in preparation for a global apocalypse. One night, Woodrow would fall in love with a woman named Milly. Soon, he and Aiden would join Milly and her friends. This would lead the two down a road filled with love, hate, cheating and violence that that is more disruptive than their own dark fantasies.

Film Review:

If your looking for something totally weird, dark and off kilter, then "Bellflower" is the film for you. One of the things that makes this film work so well, the way that this film feels different from other films on relationships.

Writer/Director/Star Evan Glodell does a very job with the way that he shoots this film. From wide shots to the various specs that on the frames of the film, the images have a very unique feel to it. I don't know if that was purposely done, but it grabs your attention and keeps you from being bored. It’s those things that makes this film different. Glodell also does a good job making his performance and the other main performances work. The performances help further the story and feel like a film that is filled with interesting characters and not just weird images.

Glodell also does a very good job creating a story that feels like something that you've haven't seen before. He lets his imagination run loose on some of the film's scenes and props. The flamethrower car Medusa or automatic Whiskey dispenser in the main character's first car are two good examples. It gives the film its weird feel to it. The othe thing that I also liked about this film, it doesn't feel like an experimental film. The reason that it doesn't feel this way, there is an actual story going on. Glodell does a very good job focusing on the film's main relationships. He spends the time to develop the relationships around his main character through the happiest and darkest of times. It makes more of a effective film and it doesn’t have to rely on images alone to get you interested.

Blu-Ray Extras:

The first featurette is "Behind the Scenes of Bellflower". A good featurette that goes into the production of the film. The featurette gets the interviews that you want in a behind the scenes featurette. You get interviews from the filmmakers and actors that participated in the project. It covers the film's production through it acceptance into the Sundance Film Festival. That what made it interesting to watch.

The Next featurette, "Medusa Rundown: An In-Depth Look at the Hand-Build Car" is a very interesting look at the Medusa Car that was used during the film. Glodell goes into all the features that the car has and bring interesting facts about the car.

The package wraps up with seven minutes of outtakes, the film's official trailer, trailers for other Oscilloscope Laboratories’' releases and a DVD copy of the film.

The only problem that I had with this package was that it was lacking an audio commentary track.

Final Summary:

I know that "Bellflower" might not appeal to everyone, but this is very good visual and imaginative film on a limited budget. I highly recommend checking this film out, if your a fan of independent cinema.

Film Review: Five Stars

DVD Extras: Two and a Half Stars