This review originally appeared at Things that ... make you go hmm
Bill Gates being assassinated is the controversial concept for the recently released film Nothing So Strange that was shot similarly to the style of a low budget, box office surprise performer: The Blair Witch Project. Not coincidentally, executive producer Brian Clark and GMD Studios were also responsible for Blair Witch and support "interactive fiction."
Like John F. Kennedy (JFK), it is no secret that there is a lot of mystique and mystery surrounding Gates and his vast fortunes except in the former's case JFK really was assassinated. It's the kind of dramatic hook that writer/director Brian Flemming is hoping will attract interest in his new film, but ironically, if you are looking for what promises to analyze something involving the Microsoft founder gone afoul, or some centralized plot that has anything really to do with the dominant software developer's founder, then prepare to be disappointed.
After watching the film in its entirety, the media coverage, visiting the websites, interviews of Flemming and one of the main actor's interview, I'm not surprised that Bill Gates has a spokesperson announcing publically that he is "upset" with this film, but I believe that if one talked to Mr. Gates personally, off the record, and asked him about it that you'd hear a different opinion. The film doesn't really have anything to do with Mr. Gates outside of using him as a bait and switch shock sequence device to branch off and explore its true underlying plot. I'm sure that if Gates has watched the film then he probably got it immediately. My guess is that these complaints are just a smart Microsoft PR move, and from a promotional point of view will work to the film's advantage.
Yes, I do realize there is a personal safety element in that there are crazies out there who will pump their fists in sadistic glee: yeah, that's what I'd like to do, get famous by killing Bill Gates. Unfortunately, though, lunatic assassins don't need any movie, book or music for inspiration, they need only visit one of many Microsoft bashing websites. There are people who genuinely hate Microsoft, and at least write like they might enact violence based upon those feelings. Recently, Microsoft blogger Robert Scoble did an entire tongue-in-cheek piece on How To Hate Microsoft that prompted me to write this piece: Microsoft: jealousy, brilliance or evil?. Several movies have been done which explore fictional companies similar to Microsoft in structure as a backdrop like the movie Antitrust. No hugely successful movie has explored this yet, so maybe it's wise that Flemming chose not to pursue this type of storyline.
I digress. Nothing So Strange doesn't get into this angle at all. It takes a detailed look at the internal politics and procedure in creating and running an activist group, historical police corruption, hypocrisy and tense racial issues surrounding real, not fictional, events involving clips of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Rodney King, Mark Furhman, etc., and thus evaluates the often gray, razory line between truth and fiction.
So, instead of focusing on why Gates was killed or even to some extent by whom he was killed, this event is used as a springboard for analyzing an activist group assembed to cause immense scrutiny on the mechanics of the investigation and pressing for an independent investigation. Was the story that was put out to the public the real truth or some poorly run investigation's convenient solution to provide closure a la many conspiracy theorist's take on The Warren Commission?
There are numerous JFK tie-ins portrayed in Nothing So Strange. The suspect's name is Alek Hidell, which was one of the aliases used, although spelled differently, by Lee Harvey Oswald. There is also a shadowy figure with a red hat known as The Running Man who according to one witness ran into a nearby cafe after the shooting and announced: "We shot him", but then was badgered by the police to change her official story to: "They shot him". In Oliver Stone's JFK, there's a storyline of some hobo-looking suspects, but problematically outfitted (they were dressed too cleanly for hobos), who were taken into the station but never charged by the police. Also similarly to JFK, testimony that was taken by the police and notes from key interviews were inexplicably destroyed or suspiciously lost. The Warren Commission was the independent investigation into JFK's assassination and the activist group in Nothing So Strange called Citizens for Truth is pushing for a similar scope independent investigation.
Flemming ingeniously set up of a ring of supporting websites for the film like this one that deals with a concern that a "class war" is brewing. These websites, which are masked as supporting content filler, are in reality marketing the film and its various messages. A fascinating marketing move that deserves notice. Should Hollywood be drumming up more publicity for their films like this? Or will this type of marketing just pollute the web -- and search engines specifically — with a bunch of bogus content?
Comparatively to the expense of purchasing TV ads and trailers in theaters, this type of marketing is very inexpensive. Also, this serves as more evidence that there was a considerable amount of time and energy involved in making the content of this movie appear very authentic, yet subsequently staying within a budget that is congruent with independent films. This authenticity angle very possibly is another reason why Gates is apparently upset that he is the poster boy for this film. People won't believe this happened (not for very long, anyway) like they did with Blair Witch, but people that come in through the websites might just be able to suspend their belief long enough to make the film work as an entertaining yarn. I will admit that I was one of the sorry suckers that was initially fooled by Blair Witch. I wasn't fooled by Nothing So Strange, but it was nothing so strange — or possibly not something so strange -- that I enjoyed the ride while it lasted.
Nothing So Strange is not without technical issues that plague and pigeonhole many independent films.
The quality of the film notably, but then I saw it as a Quicktime download (461 MB, roughly 2 hours to download on our DSL connection) and not in a theater. There are some blurry moments and the audio and lighting is spotty at times, but that would be on par with a documentary-type production. In fairness to Flemming, this is the first film I've ever watched completely on my PC, so maybe it's not the film/shooting quality so much as it was the medium used.
They are using a new and intriguing service called Bitpass to distribute the movie online ($3 USD for the small version and $5 USD for the large version) and according to Mr. Flemming's weblog: "Did I mention that a worldwide internet debut of a feature film has never, ever, ever happened before? And you read about it first at Brian Flemming's Weblog". The idea is that users load up a prepaid card at Bitpass with a few dollars and then you can go and visit a variety of sites and quickly and conveniently order content like Nothing So Strange without directly having to give the content website any financial information.
The 3D modeling used to re-enact the sequence of events is very cool. Apparently the color palette used in that modeling is more than just familiar, according to Flemming: "The secret is out. I love to steal. In this case, we're stealing our color pallette from David Fincher's movie 'Seven.'" Flemming aka Robin Hood? He might admit to some thievery, but he also believes in sharing, by making the footage of Nothing So Strange open source. The compiled movie is fully copyrighted but the individual components are open source. Right on!
One could make the argument that this is appropriate in the context of the film attempting to be a documentary/movie ala Blair Witch which some are referring to as a subgenre: mockumentary. Recently the film did debut here in Seattle, but I didn't make that showing. If this film had been done with a budget that ran into the millions instead of the thousands, it might have looked better, but I don't think the content of the film would have been that much better, so that's a positive for Mr. Flemming who worked very well with the finances at hand. And what about Steve Sires playing (very briefly) Bill Gates? He's pretty authentic looking (see picture), and reportedly Microsoft has used him in training films in the past.
The acting is competent with the lead character, David James, who goes from out of work to co-president of the Citizens of Truth activist organization. David had one moment where he made me chuckle. It was at a point in the film when he was mad at some of the other Citizen for Truth members who were bucking his idea for performing a non-violent protest and he goes outside and vents to the camera (39:07): "It's not crazy to wanna go and, and talk to people and ... I'm not breaking the law. I mean, These ... pussies in there. They think they are going to jail ... for speaking."
Overall, Nothing So Strange succeeds on a number of levels and if you enjoyed Blair Witch (the first one, not the godawful sequel) then you will likely enjoy this film. For those that want to explore many deeper messages and more serious subject matter, this film is loaded with content, but for me it was worth a few bucks just for fun. Just don't expect to find out the secret to running Windows without crashing or some rousing whodunit, because it's not about that. Maybe it should have been titled: Nothing So Gates. Grade: B
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