Vertical Pool and ParaTheatrical ReSearch
presents
----> ABOVE IMAGE LINKS TO MOVIE <----
“The Invisible Forest” incites and dares the viewer to let go of concepts and
accept the risky adventure of following the free, unimpeded energies of
body and mind. Since, in real life, Alli engages in paratheatrical research,
it becomes obvious that the film’s fictional story is constructed out of
documentary elements." - David Finkelstein, filmthreat.com (4-stars)
THE TRAILER and SYNOPSIS
(no spoilers)
"A Journey through the Internal Landscape"
THE INVISIBLE FOREST (2008; 111 min.) Alex, a theatre director (Antero Alli), brings his troupe out into the woods to explore French Surrealist Antonin Artaud's magic theatre of ghosts, dreams, and demons. During their paratheatrical forest experiment, Alex is haunted by disturbing dreams where Artaud (Clody Cates) appears to him as an outraged fashion model mocking his theatrical ambitions. In an attempt to stop the nightmares, Alex stays awake for three days. Delirious, his sanity pushed to its limits, Alex visits a dreamwork therapist who suggests hypnotic regression to track the hidden source of the problem. Under hypnosis, we journey with Alex through the internal landscape of his Subconscious -- through hallucinations, dreams, and memories -- to a place beyond belief and, beyond the mind itself. The Invisible Forest is a mostly improvised film directed by Antero Alli with additional text by William Shakespeare (excerpts from "The Tempest" and "Romeo and Juliet") and Antonin Artaud ("The New Revelations of Being").
Excerpt from the film, Cast & Crew, & Reviews
"New Revelations of Being" by Antonin Artaud
'THE CAST and THE CREW and REVIEWS
"A very beautiful work. The dream engine is in full steam and the dangerous relationship to the loosed spirit of Artaud is very real. The actors are great. And you, you're a terrific actor, and I might say, very funny. I love the interweaving patterns of forest and dream, and the beautiful soundtrack. And, of course, the sexy women! You are astride a powerful and lyric mount." - John O'Keefe, San Francsico playwright/actor
"Forests embody threshold spaces where we encounter the spirits of nature as well as ghosts of the psychic, para-spiritual world. It is here in the forest that Alli’s dreamstory begins and winds itself through a rich tapestry of labyrinthine dreams, dreams within dreams, dreams that eventually carry us through to the shattering and regenerative conclusion of Alli’s cinematic opus." - from the REVIEW by Cedrus Monte, Jungian Analyst, Zurich Switzerland.
"The onscreen presence of Alli makes this film particularly special...his ALEX is enigmatic, sardonic, arrogant, insightful, joyful—an unpretentious but still portentous portrait of the sort of irascible, multidimensional artist who is not content to make myths but to provoke the nameless forces behind myth, and to bid them intrude." -- from the REVIEW by Erik Davis, author, "TechGnosis"
What may be Alli's most delirious picture to watch is also his most difficult story to follow, and at times the narrative seemed to spiral out of control. On the other hand, the spiral takes us places an ordinary, scripted story might avoid, even when the visual effects cease. In particular, the improvised dialogues between Alli and Garret Dailey, as his psychiatrist "Philip K. Brodrique," are naturalistic, funny, frightening ...the best acting I've seen in Alli's oeuvre." -- from the REVIEW by Jesse Walker
About the Filmmaker; Interview, Project Blog, Filmography
ANTERO ALLI has been writing, directing, and producing his underground feature films since 1993. His deep background in experimental theatre (since 1975) imprints his films with their distinct theatricality and surrealistic sensibility. Alli's films can be seen online and occasionally at the Clinton Street Theater in Portland OR where he resides. Antero is the founder/director of ParaTheatrical ReSearch, an exploration of asocial group ritual dynamics and experimental theatre.
FILMMAKER INTERVIEW
by Juanita Benedicto. April 29, '08.
DIRECTOR'S PROJECT BLOG
Production notes & anecdotes
FILMOGRAPHY
completed works; w/trailers & reviews
I.M.Db, DVD, SOUNDTRACK CD, CONTACT
