On WFF #7: A barrage of traumas
Decider previews the Wisconsin Film Festival
Article Tools
It’s hard to review Tracks (April 15, Monona Terrace, 11:15 a.m.) with any kind of objectivity for two reasons.
First, the idea for writer-director Josh Rosenberg’s screenplay is based on a real tragedy. In November 2005, Heather Bates, 14, and Arielle Daniel, 17, were struck and killed by an Amtrak train in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek. In March 2006, another Oak Creek teen was found guilty of sexually assaulting Bates a few weeks before she and Daniel stepped in front of the train.
Second, Tracks was filmed in Milwaukee with the services of some very talented people from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Milwaukee theater community. First-time director Rosenberg (who spoke with Decider about the film last year) should be applauded for his ability to secure Niels Mueller (writer-director of The Assassination Of Richard Nixon) as a producer as well as a $30,000 budget. You can tell the actors are relishing their roles.
Having said all that, watching this movie is a lot to handle. Though the overall feel is along the lines of a well-produced after-school special, film-goers should be ready for the following:
-A rape scene
-A naked parental sex scene
-A self-injury scene
-A blowjob scene
-A hamster beheading scene
-A stabbing scene
-A father-daughter abuse/molestation scene
-A post-coital teens scene
-An attempted suicide scene
-A double-suicide scene
-A naked parental sex scene
-A self-injury scene
-A blowjob scene
-A hamster beheading scene
-A stabbing scene
-A father-daughter abuse/molestation scene
-A post-coital teens scene
-An attempted suicide scene
-A double-suicide scene
It’s not that I disapprove of any of these scenes in particular, or that they don’t make sense, but putting them all on top of each other in one film makes the whole thing impossible to process. It may be that a more seasoned hand was needed at the helm—or at least helping out in the editing process.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that the movie is not explicitly about Bates and Daniel. There is no “based on a true story” line anywhere in the credits. Rosenberg did tell Expressmilwaukee.com that he got the idea for the screenplay by reading about the two girls in a newspaper. I’m left to assume that he created his own characters, named Cat and Claire, out of whole cloth, but as a filmgoer I’d have no way to know.
Either way, to critique those characters or this movie feels like criticizing the short lives of two very real young women I know nothing about. And that’s just wrong.
For more previews of the Wisconsin Film Festival, please see the On WFF archive.
