“The Plague” showed Saturday night in a crowded theater at the 61st Chicago International Film Festival, the debut feature film for Writer/Director Charlie Polinger. It was everything I hoped it would be. I’ve heard great things about this film. The director remained true to his vision and assembled an outstanding cast of 12 to 13-year-old boys, all of whom did an excellent job (especially the characters of Ben, Eli and Jake). Polinger refused to cave to tired tropes and made, instead, a movie with a theme that is universal. The film has been picked up for distribution (near Christmas). Said Head of IFC Entertainment Group Scott Shooman, “ The Plague’s hypnotic and captivating psychological dive into sports, competition and adolescence is one of the most riveting debut films we’ve ever seen. The technical craftsmanship and excellent performances captured our attention and solidified our desire to collaborate on the launch of this impressive film from a talented auteur visionary.”
PLOT
Kenny Rasmussen (Eli) and reviewer Connie Wilson on Saturday, October 18th, after the 9 p.m. screening of “The Plague” at the 61st Chicago International Film Festival.
Here is a synopsis : “’The Plague’ is an accomplished directorial debut from Charles Pollinger that engrosses you in the troubling dynamics of a boy’s water polo camp. The film doesn’t shy away from the ickiness of adolescence, whether bodily or socially. Instead, it festers in those spaces, leading to a fidgety, discomfiting but utterly convincing watching experience. Stylish, vibrant 35mm cinematography from Steven Breckon elevates the film’s visual language, but it is the alchemy of the young cast that creates the film’s atmospheric sincerity.”
The film was nominated in 2 categories at Cannes. Polinger said, “Premiering The Plague at Cannes was a dream. I’m thrilled to share it with a wider theatrical audience through Independent Film Company, who’ve championed so many of my favorite films.” “The Plague” also won the top prize at Fantastic Fest in Austin. It was named the Best International Feature at the Calgary International Film Festival and won the Critics Award and a Special Grand Prize at the Deauville Film Festival. It is an impressive film debut, not only because the writing is so good and true to life (and turned into believability by a talented cast) but also because the sound (Johan Lenox) and cinematography (Steve Brockton, “Griffin in Summer”) were extraordinary. Some of the water shots of the girls’ team practicing their synchronized water ballet were truly impressively beautiful and different. Even the opening shot of the boys diving into the water was unique and captivating.
CANNES & SOUND AWARD
After “The Plague” showed at Cannes, it received an 11-minute standing ovation. It also won an award there for Best Sound Creation (Johan Lenox, composer). During the screening tonight, I tried to describe the sounds that were used to ratchet up tension in the film. It isn’t music, exactly. There are discordant voices. There are intense, driving, pulsing, weird, three-part disharmonies, similar to people panting in sync. Surging strings are heard at the beginning of the “Under the Sea” school dance at the Tom Lerner Water Polo Camp in 2003. Really interesting sound and equally unique cinematography.
INSPIRATION
“The Plague”
When asked how he happened to write this script, Polinger mentioned cleaning out his old childhood room at his family home and coming upon journals that he had written when 12 and 13 years old—junior high school age. He took those notes and turned them into a script that the teen-aged boys playing the leads made seem “real.”
UNIVERSAL TRUTH
Everyone wants to belong. When one person is singled out to be shunned, often the person with the most charisma or assuredness can get the others to conform and determine where each person stands in the pecking order. Polinger mentioned an interesting social psychology study that took 10 people into a room and, of the 10, nine were “plants” programmed to misname a color. [Example: say that red is blue.] He pointed out that 80% of the time, the lone hold-out (who was not in on the experiment) would cave and agree with the majority, even though the color was clearly being misidentified.
SPOKE TO ME
Every critic who spoke about the film on tape or in print had the same reaction to this remarkable film. It went something like, “That happened to me.” There is even a Dennis Rodman quote in the script: “Don’t let what other people think determine who you are.”
I taught 12 and 13-year-old students (7th and 8th graders) for 18 years. It is an interesting age, rife with bodily changes, raging hormones and horny boys. There is some truth to the rumor that my two children are spaced 19 years apart because I did not want to ever have to stand up in front of a room full of horny 7th and 8th grade boys while nine months pregnant. The mind of a junior high school aged male is often fixed on matters sexual (as accurately and humorously represented in the film), I’ve seen the cruelty of junior high school students up close and personal. Like nearly every critic on the planet, I also have my “Me, too” stories about Amish shunning. As Edgerton put it, “ The savagery in this is like ‘Full Metal Jacket’ for tweenagers.”
CAST
Joel Edgerton (foreground) as the water polo coach and Everett Bunck as Ben in “The Plague,” which screened at the 61st Chicago International Film Festival on October 18th.
The “good guy” in the film is young Ben, whose mother divorced his father and moved the two of them to town from Boston. He has been enrolled in the water polo camp and, as with others in the camp, one wonders if the parents really want to encourage water polo competence or whether some of them just want to get the kids out of the house. Ben has a slight speech impediment, which involves not pronouncing the letter “t” very well. When, as the new kid in town, he first joins the boys and uses the word “stop,” another boy at the table, Jake (well-played by Kayo Martin) begins taunting him, leading to a nickname of “Soppy” for Ben.
ELI
Kenny Rasmussen, who plays Eli in “The Plague,” at the showing at the 61st Chicago International Film Festival.
Eli (Kenny Rasmussen) is the social outcast who is being systematically ostracized. If he approaches a lunch table, the other boys get up and leave. The myth is that Eli has “the plague.” All of his tormenters know that it is not true, but Eli behaves so weirdly in their eyes that they punish him for being different. It is true that Eli has a rash, resembling psoriasis or rosacea. He always wear a shirt, even in the water.
The boys are merciless in their shunning and shaming of Eli. Ben (Everett Blunck) knows this is wrong. He is a kind boy. That comes through, including in his defense of being a vegetarian. Ultimately, Ben attempts to be friendlier to Eli. But the tables then turn. (No good deed goes unpunished). The Chief Instigator of mean-spirited actions, Jake, turns the group of boys against Ben, rather than Eli. Now Ben is truly miserable.
There is a semi-humorous scene where the Coach tries to cheer Ben up with the promise that “this, too, shall pass.” (“Be yourself, because what else are you gonna’ be?”) With a single tear making its way down his cheek, Ben says, “This is the most depressing pep talk ever.”
CONCLUSION
Joel Edgerton is correct in his assessing Polinger’s promise.He apparently can do it all, including the editing. I look forward to seeing more feature films from this director, who has assembled 7 credits since 2013. As his first feature film “The Plague” is truly a tour de force.
I would urge you to put “The Plague” on your holiday viewing schedule.
[Cast members in “The Plague:” Everett Blunck as Ben; Kenny Rasmussen as Eli; Lennox Espy as Julian; Elliott Heffernan as Tic Tac; Lucas Adler as Logan; Kayo Martin as Jake; Kolton Lee as Corbin. Joel Edgerton as the Coach.]
