As I read through various reviews on David Gordon Green's Prince Avalanche (2013) I was once again struck by how the same visual and auditory information can do so differently influence a viewers opinion. I think, this is especially the case in Prince Avalanche because of the movie's simplicity regarding artificiality, the amount of characters, props or actual action.
The movie captivates through its repetitive motives and thrashing around with lines. The resulting exploration of a developing friendship ist thereby all the more powerful. I was really entertained by alternating use of the sentence "Can we just listen to the silence?".
It really embodies the difference of being lonely and enjoying solitude because neither Alvin (Paul Rudd) nor Lance (Emile Hirsch) can decide for one use or the other. Both characters can not endure the presence or absence of the other one for longer than a few days. As Lance goes into town over the week-end to get "his little man squeezed", Alvin instantly struggles (compare the way he tries to relax in the hammock, but fails to get comfortable). He goes back to taking his medicine and clearly hallucinates, as he acts like the completely burned-down house is still there and speaks with his imaginary wife, although it is not sure if he talks about Madison (Gina Grande), his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend.
I noticed a very neat placed parallel regarding the pronunciation of Madison (m-ah-de-sun) and Medicine (m-eh-di-sin), covering the eventual connection between his prescriptions and his relationship with her. It is also interesting how each line about her can also be applied on the taking and effects of medicine.
The effects of medicine on Alvin's perception are overwhelmingly implemented in a shot, where the viewer travels in point-of view of a very fast driving car along the road, when the rich and saturated colours suddenly fade to a few seconds of disturbing dull black and white. We end on the camera filming the back of a woman's head, probably Madison's, followed by a harsh cut back into the usual setting in the forest, back to Alvin.
I have to admit that i did not fully understand the role of the old truck-driver and the woman who cleans up her destroyed house. He denies that she just entered the truck, although we, Alvin and Lance just saw that. Suddenly, I was asking myself, what in the world he was carrying in his truck anyway? My theory is that they are actually married, thus its their former house and the truck was used to carry away the debris.
Despite the sometimes monotonous and drawn-out action, I enjoyed the movie's visual flair, the well put shots, especially the entirely plot-detached scenes of nature and landscape and the repetitive motives, which prepared the heat-up towards a breaking point in a very simple but effective way.
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All pictures belong to Magnolia Pictures
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