By
Graig Uhlin
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Urban legends are those stories told a million times over about the tragic results of circumstances which happen to a friend of a friend, and which people never think could happen to themselves. They concern how unexpected tricks of fate forever alter people's lives, after which, to repeat a familiar phrase, they would never be the same again.
A new film, "Urbania," helmed by first-time director Jon Shear, uses urban legends as the backdrop of a New York City landscape through which the main character Charlie (Dan Futterman), a gay man struggling with a tragic past event, travels. Each legend - including waking up in an ice bath sans a kidney, the crazy lady who microwaves her dog, etc. - finds itself played out in the reality of the film.
Shear maintains a commendable sense of subtlety with these legend portrayals, keeping the narrative foregrounded as he lets the legends serve as quirky New York scenery. Narratively, though, they have little significance - thematically, the opposite is true - but as a result, they seem to stick out awkwardly, despite their background status.
The first 15 minutes of the film, in fact, consist mainly of these legends that Charlie witnesses. It is only later that the real narrative begins - and thankfully so, because just as the legends become tedious, the plot grips the viewer in suspense and tension.
Charlie, it is learned, has a mission to all his aimless walking around the city. He is searching for a man who has committed significant injury to himself and his lover five months prior. The exact nature of the man's crime is not revealed until very late in the film, and serves to provide much of the narrative's palpable and chilling suspense.
Shear does not stop with plot devices at giving his audience a sense of mystery and suspense, though. The entire film is constructed as the dream state of Charlie - reinforced by the nonlinear timeline, mitigated with snapshot flashbacks, and moody, expressionistic set design and lighting.
The viewer is often denied a clear understanding of all the events transpiring on screen, but at the same time, does not desire that clarity, with the resultant confusion enhancing the film-viewing experience, rather than detracting - a singular feat for a debut director. By the film's end, the audience is left wondering whether the story that have just heard is true, just like any urban legend - a somewhat weak but compelling thematic tie between the main story line and the urban legend backdrop.
This film is a "gay" film dealing mostly with homophobia, but what is remarkable is the way Shear manages to suppress the significance of Charlie's sexuality. The audience does not even learn of it until well into the film - while most of the narrative hinges on it.
Not to be trite, but it is nice to see a "gay" film that does not deal with overdone coming out issues. "Urbania" represents a larger movement toward the mainstreaming of gay-themed movies, giving them a broader base appeal where general audiences will not be alienated by the subject matter.
Some viewers might be put off by its sometimes-pretentious attitude toward its oh-so-clever themes or shooting style, but the majority of viewers will find the story riveting, compelling and emotionally resonant.
