Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
— “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets” was shown at the 2020 True/False Film Fest and, for T/F festival films, I’m giving a general reaction to the viewing experience, followed by the film’s description as it appeared on the festival website.
I really liked Bill & Turner Ross’ “Western” when it showed at True/False 3-4 years ago and I agree the Rosses are phenomenal. “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets” was good and the images were glorious, and the editing nicely done. It was self-contained and non-judgmental, evolving naturally, and even ending up someplace I kind of liked—where “families” form in all kinds of ways and people look out for each other—but I just wasn’t sure I liked its role as a genre-stretcher. I am not sure I want to stretch “documentaries” so far into the “fictional” world. In this case, it’s my understanding the film appears to take place at a Las Vegas dive bar on its the last night of business, with regulars coming to say their goodbyes. In reality, the bar never existed and a bar in New Orleans was used to film people hired to play unscripted characters over a 3-day shoot, including an 18-hour session that was the basis for the “documentary.” I’m still coming to grips with how fluid the definition of “documentary” should be and at what point it’s really a “docudrama.” Regardless, it’s well done and well worth seeing.
Description from the T/F website: “The Las Vegas skyline is littered with unfinished high-rises, ostentatious displays of wealth from unknown developers. In the shadows of the cranes, a beloved neighborhood dive bar is closing its doors. Shot on the final day of operation, coincidentally (or not) right after the 2016 election, ‘Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets’ watches with equal parts love, recognition, and amusement as a small but devoted clientele stop by for the final night of drinking. The festivities are lovely and low-key at first, but emotions heighten as the liquor keeps pouring, and soon the camera is dancing with the barflys, listening in on their intense conversations, and tagging along for delightful shenanigans. A tour de force of construction, this magical, atmospheric film operates simultaneously as a moving portrait of a bar family, a bittersweet state of the nation, and an ecstatic simulation of inebriation.”
I really liked Bill & Turner Ross’ “Western” when it showed at True/False 3-4 years ago and I agree the Rosses are phenomenal. “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets” was good and the images were glorious, and the editing nicely done. It was self-contained and non-judgmental, evolving naturally, and even ending up someplace I kind of liked—where “families” form in all kinds of ways and people look out for each other—but I just wasn’t sure I liked its role as a genre-stretcher. I am not sure I want to stretch “documentaries” so far into the “fictional” world. In this case, it’s my understanding the film appears to take place at a Las Vegas dive bar on its the last night of business, with regulars coming to say their goodbyes. In reality, the bar never existed and a bar in New Orleans was used to film people hired to play unscripted characters over a 3-day shoot, including an 18-hour session that was the basis for the “documentary.” I’m still coming to grips with how fluid the definition of “documentary” should be and at what point it’s really a “docudrama.” Regardless, it’s well done and well worth seeing.
Description from the T/F website: “The Las Vegas skyline is littered with unfinished high-rises, ostentatious displays of wealth from unknown developers. In the shadows of the cranes, a beloved neighborhood dive bar is closing its doors. Shot on the final day of operation, coincidentally (or not) right after the 2016 election, ‘Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets’ watches with equal parts love, recognition, and amusement as a small but devoted clientele stop by for the final night of drinking. The festivities are lovely and low-key at first, but emotions heighten as the liquor keeps pouring, and soon the camera is dancing with the barflys, listening in on their intense conversations, and tagging along for delightful shenanigans. A tour de force of construction, this magical, atmospheric film operates simultaneously as a moving portrait of a bar family, a bittersweet state of the nation, and an ecstatic simulation of inebriation.”
[2020. 98 min. Directed by Bill and Turner Ross.]
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/bloody-nose-empty-pockets-review-1272822
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