news
TIFF 2006 Preview: Vanguard: 2:37
2:37 is a film about teenagers and suicide. Heavily influenced by Elephant, it uses the exact same techniques of Gus Van Sant’s 2003 film, including long tracking shots of unhappy youths pacing the halls of their school, and revisiting scenes multiple times from different angles. Surprisingly the changes director Murali K. Thalluri has made to this template actually lessen the whole – the interview segments, in which the six main characters discuss their dreams and the nightmares of their lives telegraph their motivations too obviously.
Indeed, a problem with the entire film is that it’s all just too obvious and often ill thought out; perhaps other than the twist, which is equal parts clever and stupid. You’ll spot character’s secrets as soon as you see them, and often their problems seem ridiculously trivial in the face of common sense or even reality. We’re sorry, but a teenager who can’t control his urination would have a better solution than just pissing his pants, surely? And we’re fairly certain all of the teachers would be aware of his problem and highly understanding.
The film does feature some moments of interest, but it does seem Thalluri is too close to his subjects, imbuing everything with the astounding importance teenagers give to high school, without making the viewer understand it themselves.
Thalluri is an astonishingly young director (at 20 years old) and it’s rather a shame to hate this film, as noble as the topic is. If Empz 4 Life’s problems are only down to the director’s age, then much the same we should only blame the myriad of problems with 2:37 upon Thalluri’s youth. In that case, there is some promise here. 1.5/5