57. A Bread Factory, Part One: For The Sake Of Gold; movie review

 

A BREAD FACTORY, PART ONE: FOR THE SAKE OF GOLD

Cert TBA

122 mins

BBFC advice: TBA

I have never understood experimental theatre and how artists get off on trying to push their audiences boundaries.

I am probably missing out because pieces such as A Bread Factory Part One simply go over my head.

Patrick Wang's film deals with what reviewers have described as 'real art' and 'liberal art' whose respective exponents clash when it comes to the future of a venue in upstate New York.

The Bread Factory is an arts centre which has been run by its founders, the tough Dorothea (Tyne Daly) and her softer partner Greta (Elizabeth Henry).

They cover the spectrum from movies, plays and dance to exhibitions. 

It is also a meeting place for community groups and immigrants and there are after-school programmes for children. 

But two performance artists (Janet Hsieh and George Young) from China have created a giant venue nearby and are set to benefit from a proposal to give all the funding from the school system for their children’s arts programmes.

Without this funding, the Bread Factory would not survive and its founders have to energise the community to save their space.

Please note, I have outlined the plot in much simpler terms than I managed to digest it.

Indeed, it was a good hour before I could work out what was going on.

Before the penny dropped, there were myriad tangents which simply went over my head.

Thus, A Bread Factory - Part One struck me as an insider's film. I suspect that those involved in running theatres or arts projects might have understood its nuances and the exaggerated characters such as Brian Murray's aged  English luvvie, Sir Walter.

Sure, my own experience means I could grasp the battle between the little guys fighting against the big corporate entity.

But I found Kang's film ponderous and too off-the-wall for my tastes and I struggle to imagine anyone outside of the arts world seeing it differently.

Reasons to watch: Critically acclaimed

Reasons to avoid: Ponderous and very off-the-wall

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 4/10

Did you know? Tyne Daly won four Emmys for her role in the police series Cagney & Lacey and has also won them for Judging Amy and Christy.

The final word. Patrick Wang: "My introduction into the arts took place in theatres, mostly under the tutelage of women. Women were my directors, my teachers. In the way my first film let me reflect on father figures, this film has given me the opportunity to think back on mother figures." 

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