INTERSECTIONS
D: Yuichi Kurokawa; with Greg Rodgers, W.W. Painter, Jack Clawges, Dwight Crenshaw, Becky Fly, Thao Duong. (16mm, 87 min.)
It’s midnight in Memphis — do you know where your cabbie is taking you? intersections, the feature film debut of writer/director/producer Yuichi Kurokawa, takes the audience for a ride on one late night in the lives of three cab drivers. The film’s title refers not only to the crossroads each cabbie comes to, but also to the weird ways in which the lives of each (and their passengers) converge. intersections is a moody, mysterious piece offset by a weird sense of humor that only occasionally feels forced. None of the actors are particularly standout, but that’s in keeping with the transience of a cabbie’s lifestyle — after so many trips, the passengers and their stories surely begin to bleed together. But on this bluesy night in Memphis, the customers do their damnedest to make themselves unforgettable: Amongst those that take a ride in the yellow cab are a narcoleptic, incoherent Catholic man, a young Japanese immigrant whose mastery of English extends only to all words four-lettered, and a surly businessman convinced of his own moral superiority. A bit involving a desperate man and a gun isn’t terribly inspired, but overall, intersections coasts by on its own sense of atmosphere, a little bit Taxicab Confessions, a little bit Lynchian tone poem. (Thu, Oct 12, 10pm, Arbor; Thu, Oct 19, 7pm, Ritz Lounge)
This article appears in October 13 • 2000.
