Alverson's "New Jerusalem" At Last

Critics have been divided on Rick Alverson's 2012 "New Jerusalem."  I've found his work intriguing in the way I have always loved the films of Wim Wenders and Terrence Malick.  Alverson, like Wenders and Malick, is a director who finds comfort in extended scenes of quiet - a silence that most audiences find uncomfortable, and awkward.  That, I strongly believe is the point of their storytelling - that life IS awkward, it IS messy and uncomfortable.  It's more than a composite of these however, but the journey, the struggle of these men's characters, whether they achieve that "more" is what makes for many fans, truly compelling tales.

Like Wenders and Malick, Alverson demands that almost undefinable something extra, from his actors.  Where words are a major component for most filmmakers, and who doesn't love a rousing speech or dialogue? . . .  for Alverson they are but one tool - and perhaps the least important - in the box. 

Going in knowing all of this, "New Jerusalem" (which has taken me 9 years to finally see) exceeded all expectations.  Alverson, with Colm O'Leary - who co-wrote the screenplay, introduces us to a pair of men who couldn't be more different than if they were from separate planets.  Sean Murphy, (O'Leary) is a displaced Irishmen, who after having served in the U.S. military, finds himself in Richmond, Virginia, living one of those 'lives of quiet desperation" and eking out a living at a used tire store off the highway.  Co-worker, Ike (Will Oldham), a born-again Evangelical Christian, sees the despair in his new friend, and is 100% positive that Jesus is the answer to Sean's sadness.  

Desperately alone, Sean seems frequently uncomfortable as hell around outspoken Ike, yet simultaneously grateful for his friendship.  Sean, who lives in a small, simple spare house with not much more than a stereo system (turntable and lps) and a single bed, seems only truly happy once:  when visiting his next door neighbor, Walt, a divorced Black man raising a son and daughter who Sean appears to share a reciprocal love with.   

While Ike seems to embrace the goodness of Jesus, and feels he is 100% committed, there are glimpses of things that are disturbing, in addition to his bullheadedness, there is a sequence where now obsessively concerned, he tries to access Sean in stalker-like fashion, looking into each window, including climbing/jumping atop things to do so, ignoring not only the questions from, but the presence of Walt who wonders what this crazy white man might be up to.

O'Leary and Oldham offer up tremendous performances as these two opposites.  Oldham has that self-assured, brashness oft associated with Evangelicals, while Irishman O'Leary with even fewer words, brings a heartbreaking sadness through his eyes and body language.

"New Jerusalem" is not a movie that's going to win a lot of audiences over to this style of filmmaking, but for those like me who treasure the art of quiet storytelling, it is an absolute winner.