Dir: Miranda July. Starring: Miranda July, John Hawkes, Miles Thompson, Brandon Ratcliff.
Shot through with melancholy, yet whimsical and touching, Me, You and Everyone We Know is the finest film released so far this year. Writer, director and star Miranda July has created a truly outstanding film, one which will remind you why cinema can be the most evocative of art forms.
It begins with a separation, as Richard (Hawkes) and Pam decide who should own their possessions. In a desperate attempt to feel something, anything, Richard sets fire to his hand. Meanwhile Christine (July) creates art in her tiny flat, giving voices to people in photographs. Both are destined to meet, but as all will know, the path to true love is never a simple one. Fortunately this isn't an atypical indie rom-com, with kooky and quirky if clichéd characters, it also revolves around various members of the community that Richard and Christine interact with, along with his children and the other kids they know.
Me, You and Everyone We Know bares some comparisons with Todd Solondz's Happiness, featuring a selection of dysfunctional characters who are desperately unhappy, yet initially unaware of how to change their circumstances. It also deals with teenage sexuality, but in a very careful way, it's verbally explicit, yet somewhat touching, and most importantly, never exploitative. But unlike Solondz's work, MYAEWK is joyously life affirming. If Solondz was to have a six year old boy meet someone from an internet
These are characters whose loneliness echoes throughout their souls, who know their has to be more to life than this, and eventually discover what they've been missing, so perhaps it's unsurprising that comparisons with Lost In Translation have been made. But they're not really accurate, this is a far more honest and much easier to relate to comedy. What they do have in common is the extraordinary quality of the writing and performances, and how they make you feel after the final credits roll.
Alex Finch.
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