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doomonfilm · 7 years ago

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Thoughts : Rubber (2010)

One night, a group of friends and myself gathered specifically to comb through Netflix in search of something that none of us had seen yet. My friend group was pretty diverse and knowledgeable, so it took many, many strikeouts before we settled upon Rubber. With no clue what we were getting into to, we settled in, started up the film, and found ourselves forever changed roughly 90 minutes later.

A group of strangers gathered in the desert are given a speech from Sheriff Chad (Stephen Spinella) about how things in movies tend to happen for ‘no reason’, and that the ‘film’ they are about to watch happens, indeed, for ‘no reason’. An accountant (Jack Plotnick) then hands each audience member a pair of binoculars, and the group turns to survey the desert. After several moments, Robert (a tire), emerges from the dirt. Several wobbly, unsuccessful attempts at movement are made before the tire suddenly gains the ability to roll around. A bit more time unveils that the tire has a psychic ability to make the head of any object that it focuses on long enough explode. Amazed and confused, the group watches the tire and the drama that unfolds around it for several days.

If Wrong (his follow-up film) is a celebration of the absurd, then Rubber is an indoctrination of it. From the very beginning, we are unsure how things are going to work, as the buildup to Sheriff Chad’s speech is long and meticulous, and the audience he is speaking to is not revealed until his speech is complete, making the audience think he is literally addressing us based on the framing. The audience quite often comments or reflects in ways that mirror exactly what is going on in your head at the time. Things get so ridiculous during the proceedings that, at a certain moment, the participants of the ‘film’ stop doing their job/roles due to a misunderstanding, and are forced to immediately snap back into place upon learning they’re wrong, even though continuity is now completely busted in ways you have to see to believe. The humor is nice and dark, and the tire being put in the starring role makes the horror extremely deceptive, and only realized when you look at things on a base level.

As per usual, the level of absurdity is completely matched by the skill and filmmaking prowess shown by Quentin Dupieux. There really isn’t anyone else making films quite like the ones he is making. In the case of Rubber, the way that the language of film is used to make Robert emote is extremely precise and powerful. Be it a higher frame rate and wider aperture for Robert’s discovery of mobility, music cues to symbolize his sense of freedom and lack of responsibility, and even stylistic tracking shots and camera framing let you know exactly how you should be feeling about Robert at most every turn of the film. The humans he interacts with, by comparison to Robert, either gain your compassion or are seen as meaningless fodder for Robert to destroy, which is more so a reflection of the individual viewer than the character found at the business end of Robert’s abilities.

In a way, I believe that this film is Dupieux’s way of both commenting on films and their audiences, as well as educating an audience in the varied aspects of processing a film. Sheriff Chad could easily symbolize the head of a studio, the accountant a distributor or theater owner, the audience an immediate surrogate for us or critics, and the inhabitants of the film world would serve as a production’s cast and crew. The tongue in cheek jokes, the ‘power’ that Robert possesses, the constant bickering and observations between audience members with opposing viewpoints, and the premature shutdown of the ‘production’ are all symbolism that is not hard to unpack, but the presentation of these aspects is extremely unique and effective.

Jack Plotnick plays the accountant, puppet to what we assume is a much darker force in control, and the malaise that he projects comes off extremely strong, making it hard to discern his intentions. Daniel Quinn and Devin Brochu play a hilarious father/son duo who, along with Charley Koontz, Ethan Cohn, Wings Hauser, Hayley Holmes and Haley Ramm, are endlessly entertaining as the audience on the hill. Roxane Mesquida plays a mysterious woman that becomes the first target of Robert that we feel afraid for, and manages to make the connection with us using very little in the way of dialogue or screen time. David Bowe is hilarious as the owner of the hotel that plays as main location for the majority of the middle third of the film.

If you’re looking for something eye-opening and offbeat, then Rubber will quell those desires and then some. Outside of the other films in the Quentin Dupieux catalog, there really isn’t much out there like it, which is a great thing.

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