Courtesy of Brent Green

“I’m not really into wasting people’s time,” says director Brent Green, and he clearly proves it with Gravity was Everywhere Back Then, a film/live performance telling a couple of dreamers’ life back in the ’70s. This production, unique of its kind, takes the audience in another dimension, way beyond the usual borders of the world of documentary movies, where boredom and platitude remain unknown.

With only five copies in circulation in the world, Gravity was Everywhere Back Then is a rare and multi-dimensional experience. But its uniqueness does not only lie in its limited distribution. By narrating the story himself and performing the soundtrack and audio effects live with his band, Green makes each screening an exclusive performance, adapting to the local audience. This biographical film depicts the poetic, yet desperate, architectural attempts of Leonard Wood, a sweetly crazy man, to heal his terminally ill wife, Mary. Using actual letter written by Leonard, Green recreated a slice of the couple’s fantasy world, something he thinks is “very similar in spirit.” The result is a series of continuous visual delights mixed with musical enjoyment that creates a poetic journey out of time. The film was entirely realized on stop-motion mode and shot frame by frame with a digital camera, taking over a year and half of work. Its blurry outcome might disturb the audience at first, but its fast-paced prose and graceful dimension soon overtake any visual discomfort.

With Gravity was Everywhere Back Then, the strongly-tempered hybrid filmmaker effectively demonstrates that non-fiction does not necessarily require sticking to realism, but can also be highly creative. Such combination of handmade special effects and lyricism will certainly remind European movie lovers of Michel Gondry’s “The Science of Sleep” with a handful of birds and light bulbs on top. Eventually, Mary achieves her plan of leaving Leornard “with a wonderful last memory,” so does Green with his audience.

Vox Rating: VVVV

– Manon Pierre