Film Reviews

Northfork

• Rating:
• Director: Michael Polish
• Starring: Anthony Edwards
• Details: US / 94 mins / (No Cert).

A film which is as handsome as it is confusing; Northfork is a sub-David Lynchian parable set in 1950s Montana. Directed with an intense, visual dexterity by Michael Polish, Northfork tells of how a group of shadowy bureaucrats, including Walter O'Brien (James Woods) and his son Willis (Mark Polish), are sent to the rural town of the title to ensure that the final inhabitants are evacuated. The reason? To make way for a massive man-made lake. While most of the town has already left, some stragglers remain, including a grisly old preacher (Nick Nolte). A sickly child (Duel Farnes) has just been returned to his care from a couple who decided against taking him on the road with them. Also present in Northfork is a collection of bizarre unworldly characters (Sachs, Foster, Hannah and Edwards), desperate to find a missing angel and believe that he may be somewhere in Northfork.
Wilfully obscure, Northfork has little in the way of what you might consider narrative cohesion. As visually compelling as it - the dreamy cinematography by M. David Mullen is quite breathtaking, as is the barren vastness of the rural Montana hinterland - there's no sense of real focus.
Eschewing anything that could be confused with a linear narrative, Northfork is a barely there waking dream of a picture in which nothing or nobody appears to make an awful lot of sense. To a certain extent, Michael Polish has to be admired for his singular vision in making such a challenging, meditative picture. But don't expect me to recommend it as a fulfilling cinematic experience.

Review by Garreth Murphy