Media with Abe: Rage

Rage
Directed by Sally Potter

It’s hard to put “Rage” in any conventional defined category. It’s not a film, though it’s being released in feature-length DVD form. It’s not a television show, because it initially launched online in short installments. And it’s not quite a web series, but rather a splintered whole divided into chapters for its online platform. It’s not a one-man show since a number of actors appear in recurring roles throughout the project. It’s not like “The Big Kahuna” because it dismisses the notion of scenery or setting altogether – all of the interviews in Sally Potter’s new work are set against a green screen backdrop. In many ways, it’s most like John Krasinski’s new film, “Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.” These interviewees aren’t all men, but they’re just as hideous due to the things they say and the way they behave.

“Rage” looks at the fashion industry through the eyes of models, critics, photographers, and tycoons, and it’s certainly a thorough examination of how people are affected and influenced by it. There’s purposely no interaction between the interview subjects, and therefore each person’s story is presented individually, with no one else to argue or contradict their account of events. The decision to include background noise and incorporate simultaneous events is therefore quite interesting in the way that it provides some context in which all the interviews can be grouped together. Essentially, it’s an all-access pass to talk to everyone backstage, but the catch is that it has to be done one person at a time.

Trying to create a new form of media is understandably an experiment. It’s not foolproof or guaranteed to work. The performers note that they’re being filmed by cell phone camera, which today is becoming an increasingly popular recording mode. More significant than the way they’re being shot is the way the finished product is being distributed, as characters suggest that they’ve come across the interviewer’s material online. The self-imposed limitations of such a form, however, require something else to make up for it. Sharp dialogue and a stunning story are expected to compensate for the lack of any character interaction. That’s not quite the case here.

“Rage” contains glimmers of intriguing characters, and certainly interesting performances (that's Jude Law pictured above), but as a cohesive whole, it doesn’t really work. It’s the kind of experience where things build and build and eventually something should come of all the hype, but it never does. Characters encourage and beg the camera to follow them to the action, yet it stays hopelessly pointed at nothingness, only briefly allowing an individual and nothing else to sit in front of its gaze. A cell phone camera should broaden the possibilities for breadth and reach; it can go anywhere and see things that bigger, clunkier technology isn’t able to access. This camera seems hopelessly pinned to one still spot, which seems to miss the point entirely. Capturing different emotions all around the same scenario is interesting, but using forward-thinking methods without taking advantage of the opportunities they provide represents a crucial misunderstanding of new media, and an unfortunate misstep in trying to utilize it.