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7 Year Zigzag

2003, Movie, NR, 90 mins

7 Year Zigzag: Review

7 YEAR ZIGZAG
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An audacious hybrid of film, poetry, cabaret and "living animation" that sounds like the kind of goofy, experimental indulgence you should cross the street to avoid. But writer-musician-actor-director Richard Green actually makes the mix sing, and the film is genuinely absorbing. Green plays two roles, the "storyteller" and Nick, a character in one of two unmade films-within-the-film. As the storyteller, he narrates the semi-autobiographical story of an aspiring writer-musician's pursuit of his dream: Making an allegorical movie called "The Doomsayer." The narration is all in verse whose Dr. Suess-style rhythms and hep-cat slang ought to clash miserably, but Green's velvety voice smoothes them into a surprisingly palatable mix. The Storyteller moves from New York to L.A. with his "Doomsayer" script in hand, then takes a corporate detour. His father, an inventor, has finally come up with an idea that's attracted $1 million in investment capitol. Concerned about his aging father's declining health, the Storyteller puts away his screenplay to help manage the company and writes music on the side. The swing/jazz/rock songs he composes in turn inspire two projects: a second screenplay for a musical called "The Next Step," which he hopes will help finance the less commercial "Doomsayer" (yes, he thinks a swing musical is commercial), and the ZigZag Club, a floating cabaret. "The Next Step" chronicles the misadventures of Nick and Lily (Caroline Davis), young lovers trying to turn a faded bar into a happening music club. It's brought to life as a series of "living storyboards" that feature actors in stark B&W make-up against inked backgrounds, and key sequences mirror the Storyteller's own Hollywood odyssey. The ZigZag Club features elaborate live performances of standards and retro-style original tunes, and it flourishes while "The Next Step" founders; the movie comes tantalizingly close to being produced several times, but the deal always falls through. And on top of his frustrated ambitions, the storyteller is tormented by the thought that he carelessly let the love of his life (Robin Banks) slip away. Meanwhile, "The Doomsayer" is gathering dust and the storyteller's dream seems to be taking a back seat to wheeling, dealing and jiving. The film's low budget mars certain sequences whose scale cries out for top-of-the-line razzmatazz, but the sheer force of imagination that produced the film's unique mix of different styles, musical numbers and hipster doggerel is extraordinary. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
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