If
you want to maintain military discipline during a near future dystopian alien
invasion, maybe you shouldn’t name the dreaded buggers after a respected world
music label. Frankly, calling them “The Nonesuch” is just an open invitation to
disbelief. Stress and isolation will drive one sentry to do exactly that in
Christian Pasquariello’s English language, Christian Alvart-produced Alien Invasion: S.U.M.1 (trailer here), which is now
playing in Los Angeles.
S.U.M.1
never left the underground warrens where humanity has been forced to retreat,
until he accepts a 100-day posting to the Cerberus watchtower along the
defensive perimeter. Obviously, there are not a lot of proper names in this
film, but the ones it has are loaded with symbolism. So far Summy knows the
Maginot Line is holding, because his wrist sensor tells him so, but he doesn’t
find that any more credible than we do.
Boredom
quickly sets in when you’re only company is a white mouse S.U.M.1 names “Doc.” In
addition to craziness, paranoia also sets in when the base commander dismisses
his reports of a strange something hiding in the forest. A freak power outage
really sets him on edge. HQ promises to dispatch a Mac to investigate, but you
know how these IT guys act. They always show up late and then condescendingly
assume you are just a moron with a loose cable connection.
S.U.M.1 is often visually
striking, but Pasquariello the screenwriter does not do many favors for Pasquariello
the director by making monotony and isolation so integral to his screenplay. He
uses the passage of S.U.M.1’s hundred days as a narrative device, but viewers
start to feel like they are living through each blessed day. However, he deftly
uses the power of mystery and suggestion to keep the audience off-balance. Perhaps
there really is a “wolf” in the woods or is he just plain nuts, or maybe both?
The
Welsh Iwan Rheon looks sufficiently twitchy and Teutonic as S.U.M.1. We can
definitely believe he is going crazy, or not. André Hennicke (who was so
chilling in The Peculiar Abilities of Mr. Mahler, which is probably the best short film of the year) is spectacularly
sleazy and utterly destabilizing as the Mac. Yet, you could argue production
designer Thomas Stammer, art director Lasse Babilas, and their respective
artisans are the real stars.
The
Tower of Cerberus could very well evoke bad memories for many Germans, but it
would be a mistake to force allegorical readings unto this film. It is really
just a science fiction one-and-a-half-hander (because two-hander would overstate
Hennicke’s screen time). Technically accomplished, but by no means shocking or
essential, Alien Invasion: S.U.M.1 is
now playing in Los Angeles, at the Arena Cinelounge.
