or the most part, when reviewing independent films, especially documentarians, you find that everyone is so serious. It's therefore refreshing when you find an Indy filmmaker who is whimsical and even comedic. That's the case with "The Hole Story" written and directed by Alex Karpovsky. Not only is this film a great comedy, it touches on profound subjects while never losing its footing.
That latter fact explains the number of festival awards and stellar reviews it has received from the Boston Globe, Minneapolis/St Paul City Pages, Filmmaker Magazine and others.
Matt Zoller Seitz of the New York Press had this to say about the film:
I fell in love with it and have not been able to get it out of my head It was one of my favorite unreleased films of last year and one of the saddest and funniest debuts I've ever seen." Michael Tully of IndieWIRE refers to "The Hole Story" as "Equal parts Woody Allen and Werner Herzog " Though the film is a work of fiction, it is based on an actual phenomenon that occurred at North Long Lake in Minnesota. A crevice suddenly appeared for two years running, unexplained warm water in the Lake in the middle of frigid winters, that was so unusual as get international coverage and make the cover of the Wall Street Journal. From this unprecedented event, Karpovsky spins a whimsical tapestry of a tale about an obsessed, aspiring cable television producer who wants to make a pilot to sell about provincial mysteries in American small towns.
When he arrives in Minnesota, the hole is gone, and therein begins the story of this film and the downward spiral of the main character which Karpovsky names after himself. Before the journey of this film is completed, the protagonist loses his girlfriend and his film crew, and then things go from horrible to horrific before a light appears at the end of a very long tunnel.
The calm inventiveness of this film is a joy to observe. It's well worth your time and attention.
By Rod Amis a CinemActivist
That latter fact explains the number of festival awards and stellar reviews it has received from the Boston Globe, Minneapolis/St Paul City Pages, Filmmaker Magazine and others.
Matt Zoller Seitz of the New York Press had this to say about the film:
I fell in love with it and have not been able to get it out of my head It was one of my favorite unreleased films of last year and one of the saddest and funniest debuts I've ever seen." Michael Tully of IndieWIRE refers to "The Hole Story" as "Equal parts Woody Allen and Werner Herzog " Though the film is a work of fiction, it is based on an actual phenomenon that occurred at North Long Lake in Minnesota. A crevice suddenly appeared for two years running, unexplained warm water in the Lake in the middle of frigid winters, that was so unusual as get international coverage and make the cover of the Wall Street Journal. From this unprecedented event, Karpovsky spins a whimsical tapestry of a tale about an obsessed, aspiring cable television producer who wants to make a pilot to sell about provincial mysteries in American small towns.
When he arrives in Minnesota, the hole is gone, and therein begins the story of this film and the downward spiral of the main character which Karpovsky names after himself. Before the journey of this film is completed, the protagonist loses his girlfriend and his film crew, and then things go from horrible to horrific before a light appears at the end of a very long tunnel.
The calm inventiveness of this film is a joy to observe. It's well worth your time and attention.
By Rod Amis a CinemActivist