DVD Release
Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America (1997-2003)
R1 / NTSC DVD
Image Entertainment / 2004
Directed by: Douglas Buck
Written by: Douglas Buck
Cast: Nica Ray, Gary Betsworth, William Mahoney, Sally Conway
Review by James Garfield
Douglas Buck’s triptych of short films relies less on story than on mood to depict the misery of living in very dysfunctional families, misery that eventually manifests itself externally in violence. The first, “Cutting Moments”, shows us a household of father, mother, and son who barely speak to one another, communicating in monotones. It is strongly implied that the father has been molesting the son. The mother, in a desperate attempt to grab the father’s attention, horribly mutilates herself, inspiring the same reaction in the father. The second film, “Home”, examines how a strict religious upbringing by an authoritarian father drives a man to kill the family he establishes a home with. The final short, ironically titled “Prologue”, concerns the return of a young lady to a town where she was raped, mutilated, and left crippled; her homecoming is intercut with the domestic life of her attacker and his oblivious wife.
Family Portraits offers the viewer a novel combination: Ingmar Bergman-esque angst fused with splatter horror. There are slow, silent stretches that will turn off those used to the overdrive pacing of Hollywood blockbusters; for the more attentive, the exposition will create a mood of dread which culminates in the (sometimes unseen) acts of violence. “Cutting Moments”, with an amazing performance by the daughter of the great old Hollywood director Nicholas Ray, is the most explicitly gory and so, naturally, the standout of the trilogy. Even it relies on subtlety to convey some of the horror; the fact of the molestation is never stated directly, but hinted at through visual symbolism and insinuating dialogue. These are films that actively engage the viewer by requiring actual thought in order to fill in the blanks. “Prologue” is second best for its wintry, isolated setting mirroring the characters’ emotional numbness.
The general impression one gets from Family Portraits is more disturbing and, above all, sad than most films classified as “horror.” I would suspect Buck of being a nihilist if it weren’t for a couple of actual positive notes near the end of “Prologue”. Not for those who want entertainment, but who sometimes watch films to be overwhelmed by emotional power.
