Northfork

[mrwonderful]

I saw Northfork yesterday at a preview. It had an altered-conciousness feel to it, which I loved. It has major potential as a cult film.

Nick Nolte and Daryl Hannah are the big stars in it. I liked it because it depicted the landscape from Montana, or wherever it's supposed to be, very authentically. In this way it reminded me a bit of Chinatown - also because the plot revolves around the building of a dam.

I'm looking forward to hearing what people think of it.

[FeverDog420]

Nick Nolte is having quite a year. The Good Thief, Hulk and now this movie. He's also got another film in the can - something called Beautiful Country. Where did he find the time to do all these movies between arrests?

Anyway, Roger Ebert gives Northfork a glowing four-star review. I wasn't aware the Polish brothers had another movie coming out. Their Twin Falls Idaho I feel is critically overrated, and Jackpot, their followup, came and went pretty quickly by an indifferent public. But Northfork looks intriguing; although I don't care for Claire Forlani, any movie with James Woods, Nick Nolte, Ben Foster and Kyle MacLachlan definitely merits a look.

[Jerk Shapiro]

You guys are right, Northfork does, indeed, look fantastic. Alas, I must wait til video for it to come out. Or...is it going wide?

[Strider]

Northfork (2003)

Rated PG-13 for Brief Sexuality

Director: Michael Polish

Starring Nick Nolte, James Woods, Peter Coyote, Daryl Hannah, Claire Forlani, Duel Farnes, Mark Polish, Anthony Edwards, Ben Foster, and Kyle MacLachlan.

http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0322659/PHOTOLOWK_12_.jpg

Synopsis: "In a near-empty Northfork orphanage, Father Harlan (Nick Nolte) gently tends to Irwin (Duel Farnes), a comatose eight-year-old who lies near death. As orphanage caretaker Harlan reads aloud about Northfork's years-ago forced evacuation to make way for a hydro-electric dam, Irwin's imagination takes flight. In his subconscious, characters from the history of Northfork's dam come to life, helping to prepare Irwin as he struggles to come to terms with his own impending evacuation".

Walking into the theater showing "Northfork" was equal to walking into a place you've never been to, a place you know nothing about, or a place you have heard nothing about either. I had no idea what this film would offer, but in the end, I came out of the theater with so much "food for thought", and feeling satisfied by the film's originality and sheer weirdness.

The story, which is co-written by director Michael Polish, as well as his brother Mark Polish (who has a supporting role in this film) is beyond strange, but it's also very unique, involving, and fascinating. It relentlessly provokes the mind, and at the end of the film, asks you so many questions about the film's overall message. At first, I found the story to be rather incomprehensible, but during the film's final moments, all is explained and all loose-ends are woven together in a very subtle manner. Now, for some viewers, the story will be beyond comprehension, but if you welcome it in open arms, you will likely understand what's trying to be said with this film. Besides the story, Michael Polish's direction is visually stunning, the way he captures the dark, gloomy, and lifeless milieu of this "ghost town" is astonishing, beautiful, and conveys a look that is reminiscent of any film noir out there. This is, by far, one of the best directing jobs in the last several years.

Nick Nolte leads a talented ensemble cast which features other actors such as James Woods, Daryl Hannah, Peter Coyote, and Kyle MacLachlan amongst others. While some of these actors have hardly any screen-time (Coyote being the best example of this), the majority of them are seen on-screen for longer than a few minutes and do deliver solid performances. The best from them all, however, would be none other than lead actor Nick Nolte. Nolte delivers an oscar-worthy performance as "Father Harlan", the man in charge of preaching to Northfork's very few remaining residents, and tends to an orphanage inside the church. Nolte is genuine and superb as this character, and surprisingly, you actually sympathize for this character due to the things that await him.

"Northfork" is most certainly not a film for everyone, it's one of those love/hate kind of films, and it does require a certain taste in order to be appreciated. There will be some who will immediately write this film off as "pretentious, self-indulgent trash". But if you give this film a chance, and watch it with an open mind, you could very well appreciate what it has to offer. And trust me, it does have something to offer. "Northfork" is a gem of a film, a gem that will either be discovered or lost. Most likely, it'll be the latter.

Running Time: 1 hour 43 minutes

Grade: 8/10 or **** out of ***** stars

Strider

[Cosimo]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by FeverDog420
[B]Nick Nolte is having quite a year. The Good Thief, Hulk and now this movie. He's also got another film in the can - something called Beautiful Country. Where did he find the time to do all these movies between arrests?

Nolte is a class act and I thought he gave great peformances in both The Hulk and The Good Thief.I read an interview with the man and apparently he's fed up with Hollywood and all the bullshit that comes with it and he's sticking to independent ventures from now on.Northfolk looks great, the cinematography is meant to be outstanding.