Northfork Movie Review:

I saw Northfork a couple weeks ago and thought it was fantastic. I'd never heard of it before, so as my father was leafing through the movie times section of the paper, searching for a good movie for him, my brother and I to go see, I had a misunderstanding- "Huh... Northfork..." he muttered, and I asked, "Oh, is that the theater we're going to? the Northfork Theater?" I had never heard of that theater before, and finally he laughed, "No, no, that's the name of the movie." Haha, three cheers for me.

But anyhow, like I said, the movie was very well done. I enjoyed every aspect of it, and the one thing that sticks out in my mind now is Flaco, the spindly-legged, wooden dog on stilts

As I have also said before, I had never heard of the movie before I went in to see it, so therefore, I'd never heard of the identical twin brothers who came up with this movie, Mark and Michael Polish. Michael directed, Mark starred and both wrote Northfork, and although this is my first movie I've seen by them, I'd like to see more.

The way everything was done was wonderful. I loved how eccentric Happy, Flower, Card and Cup of Tea were, and how adorably cute and believeable little Duel Fahrnes was. And to think the boy has had no prior acting! It seems as if this has been his ninth or tenth movie. I dunno, for some people, it comes naturally. Props to Duel! You have the acting bug, honey.

Nick Nolte and James Woods were two of the three celebrities I recognized right away off the cast roster (the third being Daryl Hannah, Flower). They were wonderful. Woods conveyed the anguish very well when, by having to relocate the body of his late wife, he not only unearthed her but unearthed all the wonderful memories of being married to her. I imagine doing that must be very hard, not just physically but emotionally, and

I understood Mark Polish's character's anger in having to relocate his mother. He stated that once someome is buried that is where they should stay.
I give this movie two thumbs up.

And on a minor note, I have seen pictures of Mark and Michael, together, online. When they say they are identical... THEY MEANT IT!

Ginny Seybold

The Polish brothers take an ethereal and bizarre look at Middle America in this fairy tale-like movie that's enchanting to watch, even though it's virtually impossible to understand. It's 1955, and the town of Northfork, Montana, is about to be inundated to make way for a new lake. Six dam company employees (including father and son Woods and Polish) head into the sparse town to find the stragglers who won't leave. Among these people are the town priest (Nolte) and a little boy (Farnes) he's caring for who thinks he's a stranded angel, and that eccentric heavenly creatures (Hannah, Edwards, Sachs and Foster) are looking for him. And if this is all in his mind, then why does the dam company give people a set of authentic angel wings to get them to leave their home?

There's a lot of cinematic trickery going on in the storyline, with key elements and characters using puns for names and doing very odd things. It's also strangely reminiscent of lots of movies, although you can't put your finger on just one (David Lynch meets the Coen Brothers, perhaps). Performances are solid; even the more comical or absurd characters have moments of honest emotion. And there's a lot going on here regarding life and death, moving on, progress and just the whole Middle America thing in the 1950s. The film also has a dreamlike quality that continually undermines our expectations. On the other hand, this refuses to let us ever get a grip on the film in any meaningful way. The Polish brothers may be too clever for their own good; this film feels self-indulgent, like an inside joke we could never get without reading a book about the film. Still, it's striking to look at, gorgeously filmed and wonderfully human, in a sort of otherworldly way. Beautiful nonsense.

Rich Cline

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