Allure (2014 film)

Allure is a 2014 independent feature film written, directed and edited by Vladan Nikolic. It is based on true stories. Filmmakers and performers - actors and non-actors - worked together to flesh out the story and protagonists. All scenes and dialogue in the film were improvised.[1]

Allure
Theatrical release poster
Directed byVladan Nikolic
Produced by
  • Vladan Nikolic
  • Aleksandar Kostic
  • Kenneth Anderson
  • Von Harris
  • Vladana Ilic
  • Lara Sfire
  • Eric Werthman
Story byVladan Nikolic
Starring
Music byYves Dharamraj
CinematographyAleksandar Kostic
Edited byVladan Nikolic
Release date
  • November 14, 2014 (2014-11-14) (Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival)
  • March 6, 2015 (2015-03-06)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish, French, Spanish, Mandarin

Some scenes were shot with actors participating in the actual Occupy Wall Street protests of 2011 and 2012.[2] The film premiered at the 2014 Black Nights film festival in Tallinn, Estonia, where it was nominated for best North American Independent feature film,[3][4][5] and had a limited release in the US in March 2015,[6] followed by on video-on-demand and online streaming in the Fall of 2015.[7]

Plot

Billed as an "experiment in situationist cinema," the film focuses on five women in New York, who have come from different countries and settings. Each one struggles to overcome her personal conflict, set against the Occupy Wall Street movements of 2011. These separate, but intersecting multi-ethnic storylines touch and inform each other, and create a larger narrative about gender, emigration, power, class, and personal politics. The film also references some ideas of The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord through contemporary stories.

Cast
  • Madeleine Assas as Valerie
  • Didier Flamand as Jean
  • Caveh Zahedi as The Professor
  • Diana Lotus as Liliana
  • Ying Ying Li as Jin
  • Julia Konrad Viezzer as Marta
  • Aisha de Bankole as Kasoke

Production

The film was produced in an unusual and experimental way, on almost no budget. Filmmakers and actors formed a co-op, shooting non-consecutively in New York City over several months in the summer and fall of 2012.[8]

Critical reception

The film opened to positive or mixed reviews. Jeannette Catsoulis in The New York Times wrote: "Mr. Nikolic, who teaches film at the New School, draws lovely performances from his cosmopolitan cast and oodles of atmosphere."[9] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter remarked that, while the film boasts "striking black-and-white, widescreen cinematography by Aleksandar Kostic and strong performances by its ethnically diverse ensemble, Allure never quite coheres into a dramatically arresting whole,"[10] while Michael Nordine of The Village Voice commented that "Allure tries to make sense of the Occupy Movement."[11]

See also

References
  1. Heidy Martinez (June 2, 2013). "Experimental Situationist Film ALLURE Reflects 60s Cinema in a Digital World". Indiewood/Hollywouldn't.
  2. Michael Rechtshaffen (March 12, 2015). "Immigrant women grapple with change in the ephemeral 'Allure'". LA Times.
  3. "Allure (I) Awards". Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  4. "Black Nights presents ten International and nine European premieres". Film New Europe. November 5, 2014.
  5. Edward Frame (November 10, 2014). "Professor Vladan Nikolic's Film Premieres at the Tallinn Film Festival". Stories From The Schools of Public Engagement.
  6. "Allure on MSN Entertainment".
  7. Callan Shattuck (May 13, 2015). "On the Making of Allure: from Professor-Director Vladan Nikolic". The New School Free Press.
  8. "Allure Synopsis & Information" (PDF).
  9. Jeannette Catsoulis (March 6, 2015). "Vladan Nikolic's 'Allure' Shows New York Through Immigrants' Eyes". The New York Times.
  10. Frank Scheck (March 6, 2015). "'Allure': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
  11. Michael Nordine (March 4, 2015). "Allure Tries to Make Sense of the Occupy Movement". The Village Voice.
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