Synopsis
Renowned actress Colleen West abandons her successful career for a secluded life in the hills. But the quiet and peace of mind she longed for is disrupted by the noisy construction of neighboring housing developments. Before long, Colleen discovers that she really can’t stand herself now that she has given up the only thing that she has ever truly been passionate about. As an alternative to isolation, she reluctantly befriends her jubilant, whimsical neighbor and reconnects with her estranged brother. Haunted by loneliness and past desires, Colleen begins to feel as if she has lived her life through the characters she has played on stage and screen. –Quinzaine des Réalisateurs
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Cast
- Ellen BarkinColleen West
- Luke GrimesHarvey West
- Bob EinsteinRick
- Theresa RandleMarion
- Melora WaltersShelly
- Josh BlaylockNot Marcus
- Djuna BelGirl in Bed
- Fairuza BalkMessage Voice (voice)
Recommendations
- 75
Slant Magazine
Shit Year is a thematic twin to Billy Wilder's "Sunset Boulevard," both heightened fables about the slow disintegration of a retired actress mourning her now-dead career by retreating inward. - 60
Village Voice
Barkin is often fascinating in playing a character who, in both her heroic bitchery and hysterical sadness, is more of a concept than a person, in a film that ultimately seems to be "about" nothing more or less than the actress' magnetic face. - 58
IndieWire
Ellen Barkin puts on a bold, candid performance in Cam Archer's Shit Year, but the enigmatic movie is composed of too many fragments to sustain her efforts. - 50
The New York Times
Shot in handsome, often vividly contrasting black and white, "____ Year" weighs in as an attempt at poetic expressionism, a bid to create a visual representation of Colleen's diffuse and fragmented mind. Mr. Archer's narrative ambitions are laudable, and some of his images (the cinematographer is Aaron Platt) are striking, though a lot of scenes also look like glossy fashion magazine layouts come to relative life. These poses and pretty rooms may accurately reflect Colleen's visual aesthetic, the world she inhabits or wants to, but whether hers or Mr. Archer's, it's not compelling. - 50
New York Post
A protegé of Gus Van Sant, Archer -- who also makes short films and music videos -- has a wild imagination he has trouble harnessing. He doesn't know the meaning of "too much." But Barkin, in short, blond hair, is superb, as usual, and Aaron Platt's cinematography is stunning. Here's hoping Archer gets his s - - t together in feature No. 3. - 40
Time Out
Barkin may be the equal of Gena Rowlands or Liv Ullmann. Her director's clumsiness, however, suggests he isn't fit to hold Cassavetes's or Bergman's old camera cases.
