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White Rabbit Kicks Some Serious Cine by Spider Santana with Sky Tallone
Local Carla Pauli shines as the ex-soldier Kerry-Ann in this striking and stylish feature by Pixar alum Bill Kinder. photo: courtesy B. Kinder
"WHITE RABBIT" IS AN AMBITIOUS,
thriler-style investigation of PTSD which was lensed locally and debuted at San Jose's CineQuest festival.
Directed and produced by Bill Kinder, a Berkeley-based director and producer who works at Pixar as an editor ("Finding Nemo", 2003, "WALL·E", 2008, and "Up", 2009, among others), it concerns a female soldier who has just returned from Iraq and is trying to restart her life in "peaceful" Oakland.
Also filmed in Emeryville and Vallejo, "White Rabbit" features fantastic cinematography, although a few shots in particular really jump out and grab you, such as a wonderful one of the main character walking past Lake Merritt with the water behind her taking up the entire screen, creating a rippling and glistening backdrop.
This low-budget but accomplished film, the first of what should be a slew of indie features from Pixar employees and alumni, stars Carla Pauli, as the soldier Kerry-Ann; and she completely stole the show. Although the character says relatively very little, Kinder and his writer, Kevin Warner, also on his freshman outing, delivers her entire story perfectly well with few words.
There’s no need to explain anything to anyone about what she’s been through in the army or where she’s coming from emotionally. It all comes across in her performance.
'White Rabbit' is one of the few films around to integrate Occupy Oakland footage. photo: courtesy B. Kinder
Quirky and sarcastic and with a grudge against the world, Pauli pulls off some brilliant comedic as well as intense dramatic moments. Her pet chameleon serves as an intriguing visual element, a reflection of her character, even a plot device.
Other fun characters, like the suspicious, elderly landlords who think Kerry-Ann is up to something, and the gossip-y office ladies where she works, contribute to the overall quirkiness of the film, making it both entertaining and genuine.
Amongst other things Bill Kinder talked about during his Q&A, after the Cinequest screening, was the use of sound to convey Kerry-Ann’s memories, as opposed to traditional visual flashbacks, which we thought was great. We recommend losing the flashbacks whenever possible. Indeed, Kinder went against the grain with many elements of the film.
Really loved his explanation: “Why make a small independent film and not be daring or do something different, right? Save the mainstream, focus-group stuff for the multi-million dollar films.”
He also used shots of the Occupy Oakland protests, one of the few films to do so and certainly appropriate in a film about politics and corruption. Although those scenes seemed like they would affect or be effected by the main story, they remained a backdrop, unfortunately.
On the other hand, when Kerry-Ann gets mixed up with a crooked Oakland cop, using her technical skills from the army to help him manipulate and steal, Oakland comes alive, or "adeath" should we say, since she finds herself, all over again, in the line of fire.
Great shooting of local scenery help 'White Rabbit' enthrall. photo: courtesy B. Kinder
Eric Michael Kochmer, who plays the crooked Oakland cop Ricky Ray, also gives a great performance, if a bit over-the-top or expositional at times, partially due to his performance but also the writing.
Although the story focuses on a female, first-time scriptwriter Kevin Warner, a journalist and author out of LA, treats her no differently than he would have if she were male. She is tough and intelligent and, despite our expectations, doesn’t get romantically or sexually involved with anyone, coincidentally-like the lead in another new Oakland film, "East Side Sushi".
Kerry-Ann comes across like a real person who just got out of the army, as opposed to the Megan Foxx-type that a Hollywood production company might have cast just so, at some point, the audience can see her take off her uniform. It’s clear that the writer and director of "White Rabbit" have respect for this character, and value truth over flash.
SPOILER ALERT! Because Kerry-Ann is so smart and methodical, and has shown us time and time again how technically savvy she is—able to hack into anyone’s phone and get almost any kind of information she seeks—I expected her to use her wit and skill to beat the bad guys in the end.
But as soon as she figures out that the dirty cop and his partner are planning to kill her, she goes to where they are and there’s a shoot-out. While it makes for a nice climax, I was hoping that she would first use her brain and technical skills to destroy them rather than just showing up with a gun.
The shoot-out could still happen, but it would have been great if she’d realized the danger sooner and systematically destroyed their reputations and careers by hacking and sharing their information before the shoot-out happened.
Nevertheless, "White Rabbit" in general accomplished something very interesting, it felt real. It was as if somehow the film makers knew me, even studied my apartment before designing Kerry-Ann’s. The hobbies are different, but walk into my place and you will see a trail of springs, screws, gears and motors.
It was hard for me not to see myself in Kerry-Ann. I’m that veteran who carries a multi-tool in his backpack and who can somehow manage to fix what's broken. I’m that vet who sometimes seals himself inside his mind, and who can sometimes let months pass before calling home. And I’m the vet who can remember an entire day in Iraq by just by hearing one sound.
Indeed, it became increasingly clear that the writers had done their homework as I recognized the SincGars radio, the Beretta, the radio chatter. The movie felt, at the expense of sounding like screenwriter/director Kurt Sutter, "organic." While I was still a little disappointed with the ending, I’ve come to appreciate that they didn’t go for too much of a "Lethal Weapon"-esque climax.
All in all, fantastic film and a must-see for Bay Area film lovers.
On what’s next from Kinder: “I’m developing a new idea with Kevin Warner. It’s a little early to talk about, but process-wise we will develop it with early involvement from the cast, and it will involve documentary material woven into a fictional story.”
Sounds like another worthy attempt in the genre-blending style of the Oakland Film Stammer Movement and we look forward to it.
Sky Tallone is a writer, director, filmmaker and blogger, who collaborates with her partner Spider on the blog, Abberant Films, and can be reached .