REVIEW ...Silver Bullets

Silver Bullets, Joe Swanberg’s sixth film since 2005, examines the difficulties of sustaining a romantic relationship while working in independent film. The film begins with a relationship that has already begun to fall apart. While Joe’s girlfriend spends more and more time working with an attractive, up-and-coming commercial director on his new horror movie (she plays a werewolf), Joe begins filming an independent film starring himself, in which her best friend plays his girlfriend. As jealousy increases, infidelity ensues.

While there are obvious cinematic problems with the film – under-lit scenes, occasionally inconsistent audio, claustrophobia-causing compositions, and some shots that are just too long – the story has promise. The characters have interesting relationships, which are conveyed quickly through their physical and spatial interactions. The story is undeniably realistic; people fall in and out of love all the time, especially when faced with the temptation of new love. Ti West is charming as the horror film director. When he Eskimo-kisses the werewolf girl, it’s too cute not to cheer for him. The meta-filmic themes of Silver Bullets give room for self-reflexive commentary, as well as a space for the characters to unknowingly illuminate their ‘real’ lives. Here, art and life begin to reflect onto each other – and it’s unclear where any certain aspect originates.

It’s clear that Swanberg’s work is very personal to him. Filmmaking has become his way of life, but he has developed a love-hate relationship with his work. As he put it: his love affair with film is going through a rough patch. His honesty is refreshing and appreciated, but it’s difficult to sympathize with a director who doesn’t want to direct. Because Silver Bullets is very personal, his feelings come through his character – which makes the character unsympathetic as well and alienates viewers. As Swanberg said, creating autobiographical work makes you vulnerable. However, as exhibitionistic as his films have been, he still seems uncomfortable with that self-inflicted vulnerability.