A Cure for What Ails

Just let me say at the top that this is one of the best films I’ve seen at TIFF this year, and one that gets better the more I think about it. Medicine for Melancholy was shot guerrilla-style in San Fransisco on a tiny budget and without shooting permits. In more ways than one, it is a labour of love.

Micah and Jo are twenty-something SF’ers who wake up after the night before and experience some very awkward post one night stand moments. Jo is distant and sort of bitchy, but Micah seems like a nice enough guy. Jo gives Micah the old brush off, but is forced to see him again when he returns the wallet she left in the cab that they shared. Micah is pure charm, and eventually he convinces Jo to hang out with him.

And, in Before Sunrise fashion, they explore the city, talk, listen, dance to indie music (fans of the scene will dig the soundtrack, although it’s not really my bag) and get to know each other. These two seem so right for one another – but they’re both carrying heavy baggage.

SF is a character unto itself. The movie is almost entirely desaturated of colour, and the city looks stark and beautiful. Writer-director Barry Jenkins also explores issues such as gentrification, class and race that are relevant to present-day SF.

Oh, and did I mention that the director and his leads are African-American? Cause it doesn’t matter in the least – except in the sense that it does matters that we are arriving at a time in cinema where relationships between Black characters are fully explored and normalized.

Medicine for mediocrity

When I see phrases in the TIFF precis like ‘barest of budgets’ ‘first-time feature filmmaker’ and ‘visual innovation’ I usually prepare myself for a bit of a bumpy ride. But Medicine for Melancholy took me on a beautiful bike trip through the streets of San Fransisco as I watched two people start what could have been the beginning of a great relationship. The male lead, Micah is obsessed with colour, and to contrast the filmmaker gives us a almost completely desaturated landscape throughout the film. Micah pursues Jo with single-minded determination, while she clearly wants to just wash the one night stand off her and go back to her life.

Throughout the film music is very prominently featured, while the sounds of the city are muted. I’m not sure this was a conscious choice or just the end result of a small budget and an uneven sound mix, but all of the song choices were fantastic. The music takes us through points in their budding relationship where were don’t need to hear what they are saying, or they don’t need to talk at all. The first touch of his hand to the small of her back in a public place, the first attempt to hold her hand are like the first self-conscious steps onto a dance floor.

In a world (we miss you LaFontaine) with so many missed connections sometimes even the connections you make aren’t at the right time or with the right person, but the exploration of potential is worth the effort.