‘Beeswax’: A fine example of ‘mumblecore’ genre

Published 12:28 pm Friday, October 29, 2010

The low-budget indie film movement dubbed “mumblecore” has earned more than its share of scorn, as new movements often do.

It might not even be a movement, but that doesn’t matter. Movies about diffident, self-conscious young people, such as “Funny Ha Ha” and “Hannah Takes the Stairs,” are similar enough in style to naturally get lumped together.

Seattle filmmaker Lynn Shelton’s “Humpday,” which got a national release during the summer, might even be in the ballpark.

Critics have been complaining that the mumblecore films are affected, incompetent and inordinately prone to navel-gazing. Maybe some of them are, but I prefer to take films one by one, not in a lump.

And taking “Beeswax” on its own, I think at least one mumblecore filmmaker is doing just fine. Andrew Bujalski, whose debut was “Funny Ha Ha,” has made a consistently intriguing film that justifies a lot of mumblecore’s concerns. If, you know, there is a mumblecore.

We witness not so much a story as a situation, a milieu, and some characters. The setting is Austin, where twin sisters Jeannie and Lauren sort out their life complications at this moment in time. Or don’t.

They are played by real-life twins Tilly and Maggie Hatcher. Tilly uses a wheelchair and Maggie does not, and obviously their onscreen characters reflect this, but the movie has almost nothing to do with characters being able-bodied or not.

Lauren is co-owner of a little shop in Austin and is vaguely nervous (for reasons we never really get) that she might be sued by her business partner. She tentatively begins a relationship with law student Merrill (Alex Karpovsky), who can’t seem to stop himself from saying inapt things.

“In my mind it sounded so hilarious,” he says after making one such gaffe. “But it came out so nonhilarious.”

People say a lot of lines like that in this movie; everybody keeps getting in each other’s beeswax—er, business. Bujalski has a good ear for the way people butt in.

The film’s frowzy style can be annoying at times and you need to have an open-minded approach to stories with open endings. But the film finds a lot of authenticity as it goes moment-to-moment, and Bujalski succeeds at a key movie function: the appreciation of unusual people.

Tilly and Maggie Hatcher are not professional actresses, but they glow with spontaneity and ease before the camera, and they effortlessly convey a sense of life experience without having to tell us all about it. Is that enough reason to make a movie? In this case, yes.

“Beeswax”

This low-budget indie is intentionally plot-nourished, the better to capture the behavior and milieu of its twin sister protagonists (played by nonprofessional actors Tilly and Maggie Hatcher). This won’t be enough for some viewers, but director Andrew Bujalski does have a good eye for how regular people can shine when a movie camera watches them.

Rated: Not rated, probably PG-13 for language

Showing: Northwest Film Forum