No one is more surprised than I am, but I'll just come right out and say it: I don't think this is completely terrible. It's not good, no, yet I see the good ideas that it did carry, and the kernels of potential. I also see the mitigating circumstances that help to soften to at least some degree the harshest criticism that I'd otherwise impart. It's a movie that's as independent and low-budget as movies can get, and with that in mind one can surely regard with a bit more leniency the bottom-dollar production values, indistinguishable from any home video of the 70s, including wildly deficient audio. In the same spirit of generosity, one will observe that this was the first (and only) picture of filmmaker Stephen Jon Lewicki, so whatever his intent or guiding ethos was, maybe we can speak a tiny smidgen less nastily of the writing and direction. For that matter, excepting the star, this seems to have been the only film work of anyone involved, an apparent cast and crew of inexperienced non-professionals. Especially on that note, I don't think the acting is awful - I see the sincere effort put into the performances by people who had never been in front of a camera before in this capacity, and who for the most part never would be again, being guided by a filmmaker who as far as anyone can tell had never before held a camera or sat at a typewriter, and never would again. Maybe no one should have ever seen this in the first place beyond those who participated, and we absolutely never would have if not for the subsequent meteoric rise to stardom of a certain person - or maybe this really does make 'A certain sacrifice' a minor treasure, however variable the results were.
Jeremy Pattnosh, also acting and co-writing, provided a soundtrack of original music that is sometimes a bit questionable, but to my pleasant surprise can mostly be described as perhaps "earnest if extremely unpolished." More than not I actually rather like the music, and with a little refinement, these themes and songs would be even more genuinely enjoyable. Lewicki, Pattnosh, and Lewicki's co-editor Robert Manganaro Morris penned a story that's comprised of recognizable elements, however humbly they may present: romance, eroticism, drama, revenge, horror, and even a tinge of musical sensibilities. The story is decidedly scattered, desperately needed to be tightened and more focused, and denotes the amateur nature of the endeavor, but all the same I appreciate what these three writers put together. The scene writing is even rougher than the narrative at large, but bears serviceable foundations despite connective threads that are meager or in some cases just plain indiscernible. While it would have definitely been beyond the scope of this production, had the screenplay been developed more carefully - benefiting from resources, time, and experience that just weren't in play in this scenario - I could even see the trio's work laying the groundwork for a B-movie of much more renown (and less outright infamy). And it bears repeating that all things considered, the acting isn't wholly rotten. The worst that can be said is that it reflects the raw, untrained abilities of total novices trying their best. While the portrayals are less than great, I can see glimmers of the skills Madonna would hone as her career took off, and which her co-stars might have honed had they pursued careers in front of the camera.
I can say in all honesty that when all is said and done I had a fairly swell time watching 'A certain sacrifice,' much to my disbelief, and I admire what everyone contributed. That's not to say, however, that it's particularly good in and of itself, and the greatest magnanimity can't fend off each and every due point of criticism. The heaviest and most deserved of that criticism is concentrated toward a select few aspects. The first of these is definitely the dialogue, most of which downright hackneyed; while I don't think dialogue is necessarily the most important facet of most features, flaws are glaring when it carries language that is unbelievable, forced, or contrived, or needlessly embraces racist stereotypes basically as a joke, as is true here. The pieces of narration, by the way, are even worse. Second, as far as the writing is concerned, I would also observe the markedly poor cohesion between the ideas in the screenplay; it comes across at times as though only a draft or maybe even just an outline had been penned before filming commenced, with only the root concepts of a scene, and narrative flow between it all is very bumpy and inconsistent. I include, as prominent examples, Bruna and Dashiell's first meeting and the beginning of their relationship, and our haphazard "introduction" to Raymond. And just as the writing sometimes comes off as blocky and unfinished, third - Lewicki's direction is almost bewildering every now and again for how questionable it is. Again, one must make some measure of an allowance for inexperience, but at its worst, when it comes to guiding the cast and orchestrating shots and scenes, I've seen people pick up a camera for the very first time and produce more convincing scenes. The effect is compounded for the fact that Lewicki also serves as cinematographer, with no more practice in that regard. I see the good ideas this film could claim, and its potential, and I see the sincere intent to make a film despite such limited means and experience, but sometimes one just has to call a spade a spade.
Factor in the less than perfectly scrupulous manner in which Lewicki handled this picture, and its cult "success," after Madonna's career took off, and the image becomes murkier. Still, ultimately - I've seen far, far worse. Even the first minutes raise a skeptical eyebrow, and this is a ride peppered with more potholes than the most poorly maintained highway one could name, but I'd be lying if I said I weren't entertained to a quantifiable extent. Though the faults are undeniable, there is value here, too, in what is effectively an undeveloped prototype for what might have been a genre flick that in the right hands, and with the right treatment, would have been cherished. I won't begrudge anyone who sits to watch and finds Lewicki's sole output to be of too low a quality to stomach, but I would argue in good faith that this isn't entirely, irredeemably bad, and is instead is just too crude and unworked to find appeal with any but the most committed and ardent of cinephiles. Leave this widely unknown, mostly forgotten relic to those who follow whatever path their curiosity lays out for them: 'A certain sacrifice' is plagued with troubles, yet unexpectedly remains a bit of an uncut gem if one is receptive to what it has to offer.
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