STROKE (2000)

A 9 @ Night Films presentation.

Produced by Rob Nilsson: Kevin Michael Winterfield.

Directed by Rob Nilsson.

Story by Nilsson and the Tenderloin Y Group.

Dialogue improvised by the cast.

An Amerindie helmer well before the term was invented, and the first to release a vid-to-35mm feature (1983's "Signal 7"), Rob Nilsson ("Northern Lights," "Heat and Sunlight") still stubbornly swims against all commercial tides. Repped by no less than three new features at this year's Mill Valley fest, Nilsson's process (roughly comparable to the Dogma 95 tenets, as well his professed model, Cassavetes) reaps decidedly mixed results in "Winter Oranges" and "Singing." But it lends striking immediacy to "Stroke," a bleak, riveting drama about individuals clinging to life's bottom rungs. There isn't much of a market for verite-style downers these days - at least not for those closer in spirit to Shirley Clarke's '61 "The Connection" than to the '98 Dogma pic "The Celebration." Still, this punishingly real look at the homeless and hopeless merits attention from fest programmers, cinematheques and intrepid arthouse distribs.

Recent years have found Nilsson working on a slew of no-budget, quickly shot, improv-based high-def narratives, most often in conjunction with the Tenderloin Y Group, an ongoing acting workshop for denizens of San Francisco's most downtrodden neighborhood.

Here, working from a story outline by Nilsson, cast members developed their own scenes and dialogue. While real-life experience sometimes comes into play, they aren't "playing themselves" -- though the extremely convincing, un-actorish perfs might suggest otherwise.

B&W feature's prologue provides unsettling views of a man in extreme physical distress over four days' course - ending when he finally crawls from his Tenderloin apartment door to attract help. Three months later, 55-year-old poet Phil (Teddy Weiler) has semi-recovered from multiple strokes. He remains barely ambulatory, speech-impaired to the brink of muteness and can communicate by writing only as much as palsied hands allow. Longtime friend Johnny (Edwin Johnson) has stepped in as Phil's caretaker.

But Johnny can barely keep his own head above water -- he's out of work and vulnerable to the manipulations of local sleazebag Modisco (Robert Viharo), who runs a strip club and other, presumably illegal, operations.

Same goes for Svetlana (transgender thesp Omewene), a fading Slavic beauty who's left Modisco's shady employ but is being pressured to rejoin the fold; eventually Johnny gets roped into the blackmail-tinged dispute as well.

Casually yet concisely limning how desperation and poverty can trigger a bottomless spiral, story's various threads advance from bad to worse. Phil has nowhere to go save Johnny's resident-hotel room; when they're caught (platonically) cohabiting there, the manager seizes his legal option and throws both onto the streets.

Lead figures have earned such viewer empathy by this point that pic might well have ended here, on a heartbreaking but realistic note. Nilsson's decision to add a more theatrically "tragic" final seg seems somewhat misjudged - it's closer to melodrama than anything leading up to it - though overall impact is intact.

Mercifully, "Stroke" allows its protags humor as well as dignity, leavening the grim proceedings from time to time.

Mickey Freeman's crisp, vivid B&W lensing, mixing formal compositions with rawer stylistic tacks, is another major plus. On whole, willfully unpredictable pacing abets story's digressive yet inevitable tenor - reflecting characters who have little control over their basic needs, addictions and ultimate fates. Offbeat musical excerpts (Sibelius, rap, jazz) are used to Spartan but strong effect. Sole "name" actor here, Ron Perlman, does cameo duty as a dapper strong-arm.

By Dennis Harvey,Variety: November 13, 2000

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Cast (in credits order)

Edwin Johnson.... Johnny * Teddy Weiler.... Phil
Omewenne.... Svetlana * Robert Viharo.... Modisco
Gabriela Maltz Larkin.... Francesca * Ron Perlman.... Schumacher
Peter Richards (II).... Rosario * Paige Olson.... St. Tre
Bruce Marovich.... Qually

"Stroke" was released at the Mill Valley Film Festival USA, 7 October 2000