Blind Love (2006 film)

Blind Love is a 2006 independent low-budget ($3,000.00 USD) film directed by Janghun Troy Choi, who won the Orson Wells Award at the 2007 Tiburon International Film Festival, the Best Feature Film at the 2006 Ellensburg International Film Festival, and the Best Feature Film at the 2006 flEXiff International Film Festival. Blind Love was also nominated for the Best Produced Screenplay at the 2006 AOF International Film Festival and Janghun TROY Choi's directorial debut in the United States.

Plot

He's a hit man and keeps a low profile. She's a prostitute, resigned to obey the call of the night. They don't know each other but they rent the same room. They take turns spending half days in the apartment and their paths never cross. She hates that the thug smokes and pees on the toilet seat. He becomes aware of the lady's habits and fantasizes AbOUT her. The slightest message or trace (a smell, leftovers, blood...) begins to strangely fill the void of solitude. Yet, as they become more and more entangled in their lives of crime, it seems likely that the underworld will draw these two together... But when and how? A completely independent film, this is an urban poem without dialogue; a desire is unleashed every minute, music providing rhythm to the evidence and traces of our solitary lives. Written by Festival Nouveau Cinema, EDition 35

Cast

Paulabianca Hattar ...  The Prostitute 
Austin Ku ...  The Killer 
Khalfani Allicock ...  African American Man 
David Alvarado ...  Young Landlord2 
Kyle Anthony ...  John 4 
Angelo Mikel Arboleda ...  Young Child at Alley 
Clyde J. Bruff ...  Flower Shop Owner 
Kenneth Carlson ...  John 3 
Glen Caspillo ...  Man in Parking Lot 
Mike Coffield ...  Man in Massage Parlor 
Wayne Anthony Dean ...  Pimp 
Matthew Donaldson ...  Assassin 
Wayne Evans ...  Gang Member 2 
Ariel Gamble ...  Happy family-Daughter3 
Danielle Gamble ...  Happy family-Daughter2 
Fanny Gamble ...  Happy family-Mother 
John Gamble ...  Happy family-Father 
Michelle Gamble ...  Happy family-Daughter1 
Sterling Greene ...  Butcher 
Lana Gromova ...  Nurse 
Diana Gutierrez ...  Sister 
Conor Hamill ...  Man at Alley 
Bryan Hornbeck ...  [...] 
Hilde Susan Jaegtnes ...  Caucasian Woman 
Arthur Francis Kasper ...  John 2 
Daniel Lappert ...  Man in Pet Store 
Milay Lapuz ...  Mother at Alley 
Oliver Peter Mclaughlin ...  Baby on Bus 
Daniel Edward Miller ...  Gang Boss 
Kasete Naufahu ...  Man with Dragon Tattoo 
Jeremy Parsons ...  Office Worker on Train 
Brian J. Patterson ...  Pedestrian 
Anya Prinz ...  Mother on Bus 
Steven Qi ...  Man in Coma 
Michael Andrew Reed ...  Man on Train 
Wil Lucas Robles ...  Asian Gang 
Robin Leonard Schild ...  Homeless Man 
Lee Stokes ...  Gang Member 1 
Jeremy Thorn ...  Young Landlord1 
John G. von der Lieth ...  John 1 

Production

Blind Love was written, directed, produced by Janghun TROY Choi, and shot on Panasonic DVX 100 with a DOF (Depth of Field) Box.

Blind Love is Choi's thesis film at UC-Berkeley based on his own film theory. He exploits both sound and visual imagery to present a compelling story of love and challenges the limits of cinematic style and the forms of storytelling. Choi communicates with the viewer only by visuals and sound without employing verbal language throughout the whole movie and creates a twist in the end by omitting the most dramatic moment where the killer encounters with the prostitute.

Thesis

...[I] employ Balazian use of “dramaturgical sound” in the film. In Theory of the Film (1952), Bela Balaz claims that sound should be given “a dramaturgical function” in a narrative film. Apart from simply giving a visceral sense of realism to a film, what he means by “dramaturgical function,” is to determine or influence the course of the action through the use of sound. I attempt to move the story forward without giving any specific dialogue or adding any physical action to the narrative. For instance, I agressively apply Balaz’s idea to the end of the film in order to establish a sense of psychological conflict within the female character, without employing any close-up shots of subtle facial expressions or the use of words. In his essay, Balaz describes a scene that successfully conveys a psychological conflict of a character through the use of sound; “a sailor is saying good-bye to his family. His wife, rocking a cradle, begs him to stay at home. But the sound of sea, the great rival for his affections, is heard through the window. The sailor hesitates. Then two sounds are heard [first from the wife, then of the sea], like two rival seducers.” In Blind Love, the female character ignores her cell-phone ringing several times throughout the scene as she plucks the petals from the red rose. This visual image of the scattered rose petals conveys an idea of her being psychologically disordered, but this is not yet good enough to reveal her psychological conflict. While the radio plays her love's favorite song, which reminds her of him, her cell-phone begins to ring again from her clients calling. As the phone continuously rings over the song, these two sounds establish a sense of psychological conflict between her love for the male character and her occupational obligation as a prostitute. While she is engulfed in the music, her clients simultaneously continue to call her. This highlights the psychological struggle within the female character, the two vying sounds like conflicting summonses. However, as the song fades out while the cell-phone keeps ringing, one summons takes over the other. She decides to answer the phone thereby altering the course of the plot and her entire fate. That she decides to reply to her client’s request instead of remaining in the apartment as she had previously decided unravels a course of action that ultimately leads to her death. The two pulls between her love for the male character and the duty towards her work battle to submerge one another. This is a dramatic fate-deciding scene in which neither language nor visual close-up are used. The final consequence of the acoustic competition further intervenes to shift the course of action in the narrative. Therefore, sound alone is exploited to influence and drastically divert the course of action through the Balazian use of “dramaturgical sound” without depending upon neither visual images nor dialogue. [An Excerpt from "Dramaturgical Use Of Sound" by Janghun TROY Choi, Film Thesis, University of California at Berkeley]

References

http://www.tiburonfilmfestival.com/filmInfo.php?film_id=4386 http://www.ellensburgfilmfestival.com/vault/archive%20singles06/blindlove.html http://www.womeninstruggle.com/australia.htm http://www.tiburonfilmfestival.com/eventInfo.php?event_id=129