STRAWBERRY MANSION
One of the best and most criminally overlooked movies of the year is the surreal and endearing STRAWBERRY MANSION (trailer here). Kentucker Audley (who also co-directed alongside Albert Birney) gives a hilariously understated lead performance as James Preble, a bureaucrat whose job is to audit the dreams of citizens so that their contents can be taxed by a dystopian government. When James begins auditing the dreams of elderly artist Bella Isadora, the monotony of this job is quickly shattered by his growing feelings for the younger version of Bella he sees in her dreams—and by the discovery of a government conspiracy that puts his life at risk. This plot is fun enough on its own, but the stunning cinematography and pastel colors used to distinguish the real world from the dreams that James audits elevate it to a whole other level. The movie also contains some of the most intriguing uses of green screen I’ve ever seen, and I would be remiss not to mention the unexpectedly effective and undeniably bizarre use of paper mache masks to bring some of the strange characters that occupy Bella’s dreams to life. If you’re looking for a clever, sentimental movie that will punch you in the heart without ever losing its sense of fun, I’d absolutely recommend checking out STRAWBERRY MANSION as soon as you can.
—Nick Schoenbrodt, Development Intern
