Old Joy
***

Old Joy, which is presented as “a collaboration between three artists: photographer, Justine Kurland; writer, Jon Raymond; and filmmaker, Kelly Reichardt”, offers something that few films nowadays can, even similarly low-budget independent efforts: an unadorned piece of story-telling, without the need to impress or outrage, but simply providing a quiet, engrossing documentation of human relationships in a social context.

The piece concerns two old friends, Mark (Daniel London) and Kurt (Will Oldham), who meet up to go on a weekend trip in the mountains around Portland, Oregon. It is quickly evident that the differences in the two friends’ characters and attitudes have become more distinct with the passing of time; as Kurt says while they are discussing their respective situations, “I never got myself into anything I couldn’t get myself out of”, whereas Mark is about to have his first child. The tension between their two lifestyles, the one that Kurt still lives and the one that Mark is moving away from, but still clearly feels some yearning for, is also evident from the beginning of the film, as Mark tries to quell his anticipation when discussing the trip with his wife. The film’s narrative arc reaches a subtle climax with Kurt’s open suggestion that their friendship is in danger, but as the trip reaches its final destination, Bagsby Hot Springs, there is a tacit reconciliation, and a mutual acceptance of each other’s divergent paths.

The direction is low key, emphasizing the desire for intimacy between the two men, that never moves towards the sexual (the expected direction of most modern films of this sort), despite the intimacy of the climax. The action plays out against the backdrop of Bush’s America, accessed through occasional radio transmissions as the two men drive to their mountain retreat, and the sense of alienated, reduced left-wing fervour echoes through the film as does Mark and Kurt’s fading relationship. London is excellent as Mark, torn between the practicalities of his future and the enjoyment and abandonment of his present – in itself actually a briefly recreated past – talking to his wife on the mobile while his friend sits in the passenger seat, smoking pot through the pipe rescued from their youth.

Will Oldham, better known as an accomplished musician and songwriter, is a good actor, but somehow one senses he has been slightly miscast in this role; indeed, Reichardt apparently approached Oldham first, sensing that his participation in the project was desirable, but Oldham felt equally drawn to both main characters and initially saw himself more as Mark. The difficulty is that, while Oldham naturally brings a lot of himself to Kurt, and undoubtedly feels an affinity with him, one of the important aspects of Kurt’s character is a sense of potential unfulfilled, of clinging to one of life’s transitional periods and growing old in it. Oldham himself has diversified, produced work of note, and thus brings a sense of intensity and subtle dissonance to the role. His Kurt is in a way too questing, wearing the uniform of the underachiever, but somehow resonating of the restlessness of the artist. Despite this slight criticism, however, the moment of reconciliation between Kurt and Mark is highly convincing, and we find ourselves accepting the new relationship between the two men as they do. A quietly remarkable piece of cinema.

by Tom Scruton