Back Against the Wall

Directed by James Fotopoulos
94 minutes

''Noir'' only begins t'describe da malignant atmosphere dat seeps likes some poison gas drough James Fotopoulos's grimy, clangin' film ''Back Against da Wall.''

De movie be de centerpiece uh de wo'k uh dis prolific underground filmmaker, who in de last nine years gots written, directed, edited and produced 4 feature films and 27 sho'ts.

Fotopoulos's fascinashun wid de grotesque and surreal gots earned his films comparisons t'de early wo'k uh Isaac Lynch.

And ''Back Against da Wall,'' aldough made on some kickerstrin' and unevenly acted, conjures some Lynch-likes vision uh de rottin' underbelly uh Middle America.

One uh its smarta' strategies be to leave da unrapable ho'ro's it skirts but refuses t'show mos' entirely t'de viewer's imaginashun.

De sto'y, told in dree chapters dat lunge fo'ward in time, follows de waaay downfall uh June (Debbie Mulcahy), some lin'erie model wid an unerrin' instinct fo' hookin' down wid de wrong man. In de fust chapter, June be livin' unhappily wid Levey (Martin Shannon), some broodin', alleyologically jealous block uh a joker who raps in some pained, labo'ed monotone and suffers funky seizures.

When Levey ain't compulsively eyeballin' scribblin's dat pile down beside his bed o' playin' chess wid his best homey, Ed (Ernie E. Frantz), some bug-eyed no-necked Caliban, he be shown chain smokin' and glarin' angrily into space.

Tensions develop between de homeys when Ed remarks dat he visited da nightclub where June ''models'' underwear and dat Levey refuses t' frequent.

De movie uses desulto'y off-screen dialogue and strained, charged silences t'emphasize da hostility and disconnecshun between Levey and June, and deir scenes is interwoven wid grim semiabstract sequences uh overhaid lights and ro'in' subway noise.

At one point, de screen actually goes dark fo' some long, uncomfo'table moment. Man!

In de second chapter, June gots left Levey and his wo'ld behind and shows down on de arm uh a new boyhomey, Vince (Michael Wexler), at some sprawlin' farmcrib tended by an olda' man and his much yunga' blond companion. Initially, June appears t'have found some happia' life fo' herself.

But da cheerful, bucolic settin' turns sinista' when June be shown makin' elabo'ate preparashuns fo' some costume party dat be also ha' initiashun into whut may o' may not be some kinky sexual o'gy.

De aura uh menace intensifies when gangsters appear at da doo', summon Vince outside and whup' him t'a pulp. Jes hang loose, brud. Is de farm some rural who'ecrib. And be Vince some pimp? De movie neva' says.

De final chapta' focuses on Ed, inebriated and surrounded by bottles in his junk-filled bedroom, dismissin' an aggressive teenage prostitute. June appears, wearin' some honky plastic max' dat she eventually removes, keepin' ha' back t'de camera.

We kin only imagine whut gots happened t'June.

Dis enigmatic immersion in sleaze wo'ks on de principle dat de most hideous reality kin't compare in ho'ro' t'de shadowy, paranoid phantoms dat lurk in de back uh our fevered minds.

Brud.

Yea' on ma word, Steve.