Lawrence Bridges

A Review of 12 from the Dahlonega Film Festival Catalog



Where to start about this one? Bridges' film can truly be called an epic without fear of overhype. This amazing film is the result of fifteen years worth of production work by writer/director Bridges, and you can feel the love and care that has gone into each of its smudged, ripped, spliced-up frames. With a visual look that resembles watching a beat-upediting work-print, this grandly-scaled, literary comedy has been a fixture of the L.A. scene for years now, having been exhibited piece by piece, year by year, by Bridges at makeshift drive-in theaters all around the city. So already, many in Hollywood have experienced this near-masterpiece. It's set in modern L.A., where the Greek gods--Zeus, Hermes,Pan, Apollo, Artemis, Poseidon, Hades, Aphrodite, and so on--have gathered to bring to a close a myth that was set into motion eons ago when Zeus condemned two mortals (Allison Elliott and Tony Griffin) to a loveless eternity thatwould only end in love and mortality for them if they discovered the then-yet-to-be-written book that would closelyparallel their lives. Now the couple have a clue as to what book they are to play out, and it's time to reveal their discovery or stay solitary but immortal. Complicating things are mortal love interests, including an unlikely leadingman, a commercial actor and deadbeat named Allen Allen (Allen Lulu). An immensely complex movie, Bridges hasacted as a one-man production team for years, then, by 2001, has a crew that's grown to hundreds (check out those mind-boggling closing credits). All this work has paid off: Bridges' photography and editing is incredible, his cast (especially the portly Lulu and Spitfire Grill and Wings of the Dove star, the mesmerizing Allison Elliott, from Birth with Nicole Kidman) is incredible, his story is incredible, his vision is incredible, and that damn soundtrack--Mozart, Hayden, Beethover, Bach, Vivaldi, Dvorak, Prokofiev, Ravel, Berilioz, Tchikovsky, Brian Eno, Lisa Germano,Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet---yes--incredible. Can you tell we like it yet? We do--it's a really great movie, a movie for the ages.