Untitled the Movie Review

Untitled the Movie

I’ve been a fan of art films most of my life. But "Untitled, The Movie,” deviates from most movies of this genre. Like many independent films, Untitled is less loosely structured than the typical mainstream and there isn’t a neat conclusion. But it deviates further; its principle actors present messages that go beyond their attractive and eccentric artistic personas to become integral elements of the film – that is itself a conceptual artwork; it presents ideas that often go beyond the material elements (the characters and settings).

Untitled takes place in art galleries and surrounding environs of the upscale Chelsea neighborhood of New York. The film’s theme addresses contemporary art, including postmodern, assemblage and conceptual art, as well as avant garde music, and the world that these art forms inhabit. And it does so without defining art or drawing conclusions about art.

While the movie has beautiful people, glamorous settings, edgy contemporary art, and music, this is not a fashionable, escapist film; its message is often uncomfortable, confronting and challenging conventional perceptions of what art is.

In one scene, a dinner party guest questions the difference between music and noise. A musician answers that Beethoven’s "Ninth Symphony" could be noise if you don't like it. In a similar manner, questions are often posed in the movie, but not fully answered. The film frequently pokes fun at the New York visual and musical art worlds, at its artists, supporters, patrons and hangers-on.

The actors in "Untitled" are beautiful (Marley Shelton), handsome (Eion Bailey) and sublimely morose (Adam Goldberg). Along with other actors portraying outrageous artists and know-nothing supporters, the cast is a composite of how New York art people are often perceived.

Madeleine (Marley Shelton), an educated, worldly Sarah Lawrence graduate runs the Chelsea gallery that is the centerpiece of the film. She is a work of art herself with perfect blonde hair, stark eyeglasses and a sexy, revealing wardrobe that often includes vinyl.

Madeleine exhibits edgy emergent art that others often question. She affirms the validity of these exhibits with statements as, "He sees the mystery in the material world." 

At the film’s end, she mounts an exhibit of a hunter/taxidermy artist who was crushed by his own enormous assemblage piece. By doing so, she emerges finally as a major New York art dealer. Adrian (Adam Goldberg), a disgruntled musician/composer of disharmonious works, softens at the end to compose a more melodious piece of music. Schlock artist Josh (Eion Bailey) moves to the country where less sophisticated supporters appreciate his uninspired works.

Untitled questions the nature art - without drawing conclusions. It explores contemporary visual and performance art through characters who often mirror the artworks.

"The movie opened October 23 in only three theaters nationwide - in New York City, Los Angeles, and in Irvine, California. I saw it in Irvine with only a dozen other moviegoers, two of whom left before it was over. The spare audience in suburbia was an appropriate development for a sleeper and a niche movie. Untitled, through its theme and nature confronts common perceptions about what art is and is not. Part of its message is to not be a blockbuster, to not appeal to the masses.