The Commune and the '70s: A Movie Review

Director/writer: Elisabeth Fies.

The Commune is a film from director, writer and actress Elisabeth Fies that has played at several film festivals in 2009 with a showing in Los Angeles last month. The film has a retro' feel as the '70's take on clothing and home decoration graces the film. As well, some Greek tragedy elements are introduced including the blinding of one of the characters (Oedipus) and incest. Fies use of Greek mythology is welcomed, while the slow pacing in the first half of the film is not.

Chauntal Lewis plays Jenny Cross a sixteen year old teenager who is being shuttled between her divorced parents. While looking much older than sixteen, this character is taken to her father's commune where nudity is the norm and free love involves family members. On the topic of age, Fies as Jenny's mother, Cassie Cross, looks too young to be Jenny's mother. Back to the review, a disturbing theme of sexual abuse is developed by way of a slow burn.

For this viewer, the lack of some tension or conflict, apart from one quick early scene, takes away from the enjoyment of the film as excitement is forgoed for light character development. Character development is almost always a good thing, but when nothing energetic, or action oriented has happened for fourty minutes the attention wanes to boredom. Most of the tension that is developed is based on incest and while the plot line can be detected early, the intro' of some conflicted character interaction would have been a bonus.

The theme of sexual abuse is horrifying and the use of this topic is sometimes hard to enjoy especially when one is personally invested in the topic. As well, incest is not an unfamiliar topic in Greek tragedy where Oedipus slept with his own mother. Some would say he knew beforehand of her identity while others would say the opposite. The Commune's connection to Greek tragedy shows a grounding in mythology and this heightens the writing. Still this is a difficult theme to introduce into a horror film.

One element that is not clear early in the picture is the time frame. Director Fies states of the film as being "reintroduced as a 1970s thriller," so one might mistakenly expect the film to take place in the '70s (Commune). This is not the case and viewers will not be able to tune into the time period of the film with certainty until character Jenny is seen with her modern Ipod, or cell phone. This might create some confusion for viewers.

This reviewer personally likes Greek tragedy elements, however, these parts are shown early briefly and at the end - only. Greek tragedy is notorious for family infighting, patricide, matricide, cannabilism, jealous Gods, magic, and many other themes; yet, the Greek tragic elements are shown sparsely in The Commune. A little more intro' of these myths into the body of the film could have made the film more interesting. For others, the exclusion of these elements might be a blessing.

Technically everything falls into place with lighting on par, the directing is well done, while only missing some opportunities for interesting camera angles, and the dubbing is kept to a minimum. Nights shots are shown well lighted and Fies thankfully uses some outdoor shots with long and short camera angles. The acting comes off as a little amateurish early on, but the performances develop confidence later. The dubbing is only noticed while listening to the commentary tracks and set dressings make the movie seem like the '70s, which seems to be the film's goal. As well, the low budget that often hinders independent films does not affect the production values of The Commune.

The film does not suffer any continuity, or editing problems and only the theme of sexual abuse, or more specifically incest is likely to upset viewers. The film does end in the realm of a Greek tragedy and Fies an apparent light-hearted, good-natured, and uninhibited character celebrates nudity in one of her few scenes.

If a slow-burn horror film is to your liking then pick this one up at the film's website. On the other hand, if more conflict or tension are to your liking then your patience will be tested by The Commune in the first half of the picture. More details on the film are below.

Plot/story/believability: 7 out of (the Greek tragedy topics are great, the lack of conflicted character interaction is a deterant).
Setting/realism/importance to story: 6 out of 10 (looks like the '70s but takes place in the current year, this is a little confusing).
Editing/pacing/continuity: 6.5 out of 10 (there is some violence early to act as a hook, but the pacing for the next fourty minutes is overly slow - no continuity or editing errors).

Overall: 6.5 eye jabbing needles to the eyes out of 10 (ouch).

The Commune can be purchased at the film's website. More info' on the film is also here:

The Commmune Homepage

Fies has the "tofurky" ready for you at The Commune Facebook site:

The Commmune on Facebook

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