Durango Days Part II
Correspondent Mark Williams fills us in on the highlights of the Durango Film Fest….
It was frigid and snowy day in Durango on Friday, even colder than Thursday, a fitting tone for these two shorts and one mid-length feature about the working life and end of life. Working a Double and Johnny Berlin explore the lives of working people and bookend their ages – the waitresses in Working a Double are in the early 20s and mid-60s, respectively, and Johnny Berlin himself is in his mid-40s. The third film, A Short History of Sweet Potato Pie, has a common thread with the first two films. All three movies look into conditions everyone has to deal with sooner or later.
Johnny Berlin is the most interesting train porter you will ever see, hands-down. His offbeat charisma is a good thing, too. Claustrophobia-inducing imagery can lurk in train movies filmed on real trains, but not here. Johnny Berlin (real name Jon Hyrns) occupies most of the screen in these tight quarters so you have to look at him, but it’s hard to look away. He has an uncommon appeal, equal parts midlife crisis, good humor and eccentricities. He talks earnestly about his novel, starring someone much like himself, rolling across America; except his protagonist is rolling end over end, on his side.
Eventually Berlin confesses, “I’m semi-happy. I imagine.” But you can sense that long before he says it, and you root for him. He has an artistic soul and a punk-rock spirit, and like everyone else he has to work for a living. Michael Stipe was one of the producers for this film. If you are familiar with Stipe’s life-story as a square peg, that informs the spirit of Johnny Berlin the movie.
What to say about A Short History of Sweet Potato Pie. A woman in a retirement community cooks sweet potato pie for everyone, and they like it, some really love it. Some of the grandmas rap about the pie, some say it takes them to a magical place. The subtext of the short is caring for other people, and when they are so lonely that this pie can do what it does, that is a sad place to be.
-Mark Williams
