Buffalo Bushido is a very powerful, deep and personal film about a man trying to come home. Treating the state-of-mind genre is delicate and McGennis captures it subtly not only in his performance but by allowing the audience to see through his schizophrenic lens with empathy and clarity. Having worked with high risk schizophrenic patients, getting through and controlling the voices often presents an enormous wall to climb. McGennis approaches his disconnect-connect role from a real life angle and lets his story seep out until the last act where it really kicks into gear. Pace and tempo are driven by his affect on the other actors as he is unaware of his polarity. Again, this is true to schizophrenia and an inability to recognize consequence. Leila Arcieri does a very convincing job climbing into the passenger seat of car wreck while Jesse L. Martin and Fred Weller double team as antagonists (which are the voices of reason). John Savage sizzles in his over-the-top, catalytic performance as the manic parole officer but the steak belongs to Bruce Glover who appears in many different guises and voice over capturing the lunatic in the head theme brilliantly through the film's warped humor. The Glover-McGennis scenes at the lobby desk are fantastic and reveal McGennis' skill of showing how the things are crystal clear inside his head while outside is chaos. The layers of animation and flashbacks reinforce his inner clarity and ring with truth as many schizophrenic patients cling to the details of early memories. Although we have an eerie sense of where this film might be taking us, the path reveals constant surprises and we never know what to expect.
Buffalo Bushido was the best film I saw at the Queens Film Festival where it rightfully was awarded and nominated in multiple categories. It is an original reflection and deep meditation. To call this a vanity project is the equivalent of stamping a narcissistic label on anyone suffering from depression let alone schizoaffective bipolar disorder which is terribly difficult to diagnose and treat. Whether one chooses to scratch underneath the surface and feel empathy is a choice. During a Q&A after the Queens screening, a teary-eyed woman in the audience commented that she thought she was seeing a ghost of her brother who sadly took his own life. Buffalo Bushido is a film that haunts and sticks with you which I've found is a testament to films that hit a life chord. The fact that McGennis accomplished this in his hometown serving as writer, director producer and lead actor is incredible. My favorite indie film of 2010.
Buffalo Bushido was the best film I saw at the Queens Film Festival where it rightfully was awarded and nominated in multiple categories. It is an original reflection and deep meditation. To call this a vanity project is the equivalent of stamping a narcissistic label on anyone suffering from depression let alone schizoaffective bipolar disorder which is terribly difficult to diagnose and treat. Whether one chooses to scratch underneath the surface and feel empathy is a choice. During a Q&A after the Queens screening, a teary-eyed woman in the audience commented that she thought she was seeing a ghost of her brother who sadly took his own life. Buffalo Bushido is a film that haunts and sticks with you which I've found is a testament to films that hit a life chord. The fact that McGennis accomplished this in his hometown serving as writer, director producer and lead actor is incredible. My favorite indie film of 2010.