Death of Seasons (2006)

Director: Chance White
Writer: Delfo Baroni

Gabriel Seasons (Delfo Baroni), a college graduate who has yet to find direction in his life is hired by his blind neighbor Mr. Harper (Kermit Rolison) to transcribe his memoirs. He struggles with his homicidal urges while arguing philosophy with friend Aaron (Justice Leak).

The terms "independent" and "indie" get thrown around so much today they've lost most of their original meaning. Especially in pop culture and the music and film media, indie is a style and genre, not a purely industrial label. "Indie" movies are all the rage with their specifically idiosyncratic narratives, postmodernistic references, and hyperstylized art-for-art's-sake look, but still bound one studio or another. Then there's something like Death of Seasons, which is all of those things but created by artists who put up their own money to make a movie their way.

Death of Seasons, directed by Chance White and starring the film's screenwriter Delfo Baroni, Justice Leak, Kermit Rolison, and Desiree Markella, is a very compelling but flawed film. While the film provides fertile grounds for philosophical discussions about faith, morality, AIDS, existence, etc., that is the film's greatest weakness. Baroni's narrative is intriguing but it's overly weighted down by the references to philosophy and philosophers, turning into a name-dropping game or an intellectual pissing match. The dichotomy between Seasons and his perpetually intoxicated friend Aaron is what much of the story revolves around: the atheist versus the Catholic; and whether Gabriel's homicidal intentions are morally and existentially justifiable. Long conversations while walking or over coffee don't specifically drive the narrative though they do provide characterization for people with whom I find it hard to identify. The brightest spot in the film is Kermit Rolison's portrayal of the curmudgeon Mr. Harper. He consistently knocks Gabriel down a couple pegs which adds humanity to Gabriel's otherwise self-absorbed misanthropy. It really bothers me that Seasons occasionally realizes what an asshole he is and revels in that fact when he does.

I don't mean to come down heavily on Death of Seasons, it is worth seeing. White has an obvious future as a filmmaker and this is a great start and his direction, compositions, and editing make the best of the story. I especially like his use of oblique angles which visually represent the disorientation the characters experience. I don't pretend to understand everything Baroni's characters talk about, and that may be where the film loses me. I like for films to engage me intellectually but there comes a point where I feel like the writer is trying to make me feel like a simpleton for not understanding Kant, Hegel, or Kierkegaard. That's when I check out.

At the very least, it's oddly refreshing to see people chain-smoking in films again.