Zenith (film)
Encyclopedia
Zenith - A Film by Anonymous is a 2010 American psychological thriller
about two men attempting to solve the same conspiracy theory
. The title refers to a grand 'Zenith Conspiracy' formed by the film's protagonist, Ed Crowley. The film also utilizes an alternate reality game
and transmedia storytelling
to augment its narrative.
Zenith premiered at The IFC Center
in New York City
on October 1, 2010, and had an extended run in January 2011 at the Kraine Theatre with its distribution company, Cinema Purgatorio. All three parts have been made available as a free-to-share download at the BitTorrent powered distribution site VODO
.
to live in a constant state of happiness
, but without sorrow, happiness dissipates, leaving only a feeling of never-ending paresthesia
. Only pain
can make people feel alive.
Jack (Peter Scanavino), a young man and former neurosurgeon
, is a peddler of substances that induce pain. A stranger knocks on Jack’s door and hands him a single video tape that Jack’s long lost father, Ed Alexander Crowley (Jason Robards III), left behind. It is the first in a series of 10 tapes in which Ed has documented his life and his pursuit of what he calls the “Grand Conspiracy,” a conspiracy that quite possibly could be the answer to what happened to Jack’s world.
Inspired by his father’s tape, Jack sets out on his own investigation. But in order to solve the whole puzzle, he must locate the remaining nine tapes. Jack begins to track down four more tapes, but the larger answer still eludes him.
Jack meets the provocative Lisa (Ana Asensio) in a strip club
, and is struck by the fact that she is just as conflicted and lonely as he is. Through her, Jack encounters the possibility of real love. As Jack finds the remaining tapes, the lines between his interior and exterior world blur, leading him to question reality itself. Lisa and Jack decide to abandon the search for the tapes and leave the city.
Jack locates Ed’s last tape, and is suddenly faced with the same choice his father had to make forty years ago: to surrender his soul, or to remain true to himself, no matter the consequences. Jack's reality becomes the same reality as the final tape.
The final scene reveals Jack as an institutionalized patient (named Ed Crowley) with both a brain tumour and epilepsy taking part in a clinical research trial in 2012. The movie ends with him scribbling notes about Zenith while being monitored by a camera in his cell.
, and filmed digitally using the Red One camera.
posted a forum thread offering a $500 reward for the first individual to correctly identify the purpose behind the website for the fictitious company "Wadjet Industries." Through a maze of websites, users quickly discovered that Wadjet Industries was related to a new film by director Vladan Nikolic
, and that the goal of the alternate reality game was to find online video clips of Ed Crowley's tapes, edit them together, and upload them via YouTube
to the film's promotional website, stopzenith.com.
) of the first section of the film for two weeks with Vodo.net and other torrent-based distribution partners. Users downloading BitTorrent client software are encouraged to download and share the first of three parts of the film during the software installation. On May 4 2011, Part Two of the film was made available on Vodo.
In the Village Voice, Michael Atkinson noted, "The waltz between grizzled, realistic acting (particularly from David Thornton as a spooky, upbeat post-surgery millionaire) and evocative compositions entrances, but Zenith is actually one of those films for which poverty dictates that its story be told largely through narration—a brooding science-fiction trip enjoyed largely as a monologue."
Jeannette Catsoulis in The New York Times
commented, this "bewildering collision of noir narration and purple paranoia may be long on atmosphere but is woefully short on sense."
Noel Murray of the AV Club gave the 90-minute film a C+, while calling it "an audacious, impressive feat of imagination, turning a few sets and characters into a generation-spanning look at a society where benevolence and malevolence are so finely interwoven that it’s hard to know what to fight against." Murray found that, in 90-minute film form, it "doesn’t fully work"; both the beginning and end of the film were "strong", but in between, the film seemed padded with "cheesy-looking sex and fight scenes, and with a doubling-back narrative structure" that was confusing, and looked like an "attempt to save money by reusing footage."
Brett Michel in the Boston Herald
gave the film a "B", and remarked, "persistent voiceover narration, a device that helps smooth over a lack of scene transitions — [is] one area that exposes the film’s budgetary limitations. Still, the use of dilapidated Brooklyn and Queens locations, creatively photographed by Vladimir Subotic, goes a ways toward selling a future not too far removed from ones en-visioned by Philip K. Dick or J.G. Ballard."
Loren Smith of the Boston Globe found the film "pretty good", and noted it "boasts terrific photography by Vladimir Subotic and offers a few genuine surprises. Director Nikolic [...] gets solid performances from all the actors and creates an atmosphere of mounting paranoia that’s grim and chilling," but, "the shoestring budget is often obvious, with one too many strobe-light sequences, and it is dispiriting that even a movie set in 2044 has a gold-hearted hooker as the hero’s object of desire."
Psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller with heavy focus on characters. However, it often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, along with the typical traits of the thriller genre...
about two men attempting to solve the same conspiracy theory
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
. The title refers to a grand 'Zenith Conspiracy' formed by the film's protagonist, Ed Crowley. The film also utilizes an alternate reality game
Alternate reality game
An alternate reality game is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions....
and transmedia storytelling
Transmedia storytelling
Transmedia storytelling, also known as multi-platform storytelling, cross-platform storytelling, or transmedia narrative, is the technique of telling stories across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies...
to augment its narrative.
Zenith premiered at The IFC Center
IFC Center
IFC Center is an art house movie theater in Greenwich Village, New York City in the United States of America. It is located at 323 Sixth Avenue, on the former site of the Waverly Theater, which was itself a well known art house movie theater...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on October 1, 2010, and had an extended run in January 2011 at the Kraine Theatre with its distribution company, Cinema Purgatorio. All three parts have been made available as a free-to-share download at the BitTorrent powered distribution site VODO
VODO
VODO is an online media distributor releasing films under a Creative Commons license using the BitTorrent protocol. Filmmakers can upload films on the site and selected works are also promoted on third-party sites and services such as uTorrent or The Pirate Bay, Mininova and OneDDL.Past releases...
.
Plot
In the post-apocalyptic year 2044, the population has been genetically alteredGenetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
to live in a constant state of happiness
Happiness
Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources....
, but without sorrow, happiness dissipates, leaving only a feeling of never-ending paresthesia
Paresthesia
Paresthesia , spelled "paraesthesia" in British English, is a sensation of tingling, burning, pricking, or numbness of a person's skin with no apparent long-term physical effect. It is more generally known as the feeling of "pins and needles" or of a limb "falling asleep"...
. Only pain
Pain
Pain is an unpleasant sensation often caused by intense or damaging stimuli such as stubbing a toe, burning a finger, putting iodine on a cut, and bumping the "funny bone."...
can make people feel alive.
Jack (Peter Scanavino), a young man and former neurosurgeon
Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spine, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system.-In the United States:In...
, is a peddler of substances that induce pain. A stranger knocks on Jack’s door and hands him a single video tape that Jack’s long lost father, Ed Alexander Crowley (Jason Robards III), left behind. It is the first in a series of 10 tapes in which Ed has documented his life and his pursuit of what he calls the “Grand Conspiracy,” a conspiracy that quite possibly could be the answer to what happened to Jack’s world.
Inspired by his father’s tape, Jack sets out on his own investigation. But in order to solve the whole puzzle, he must locate the remaining nine tapes. Jack begins to track down four more tapes, but the larger answer still eludes him.
Jack meets the provocative Lisa (Ana Asensio) in a strip club
Strip club
A strip club is an adult entertainment venue in which striptease or other erotic or exotic dance is regularly performed. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, but can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style....
, and is struck by the fact that she is just as conflicted and lonely as he is. Through her, Jack encounters the possibility of real love. As Jack finds the remaining tapes, the lines between his interior and exterior world blur, leading him to question reality itself. Lisa and Jack decide to abandon the search for the tapes and leave the city.
Jack locates Ed’s last tape, and is suddenly faced with the same choice his father had to make forty years ago: to surrender his soul, or to remain true to himself, no matter the consequences. Jack's reality becomes the same reality as the final tape.
The final scene reveals Jack as an institutionalized patient (named Ed Crowley) with both a brain tumour and epilepsy taking part in a clinical research trial in 2012. The movie ends with him scribbling notes about Zenith while being monitored by a camera in his cell.
Cast
- Peter Scanavino as Jack Crowley
- Jason Robards III as Ed Crowley
- Ana Asensio as Lisa Berger
- Al Nazemian as Nimble
- Arthur FrenchArthur French (actor)Arthur French is an American actor and director best known for his work in the theatre.- Biography :Throughout a career that spans over fifty years, French is best known for his work on the stage. He worked extensively with the Negro Ensemble Company and has played a wide variety of roles...
as Mateo - Raynor ScheineRaynor ScheineRaynor Scheine is an American actor who has appeared in films for three decades dating back to 1979, including My Cousin Vinny and Fried Green Tomatoes. His name is a play on the phrase "rain or shine".-Broadway performances:...
as Dale - David ThorntonDavid Thornton (actor)David Thornton is an American actor. He is the husband of Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Cyndi Lauper, whom he married in 1991. Their son, Declyn Wallace Thornton Lauper, was born on November 19, 1997.- Filmography :...
as Rudolf Berger - Jay O. SandersJay O. SandersJay Olcutt Sanders is an American character actor.Sanders was born in Austin, Texas, to Phyllis Rae and James Olcutt Sanders. He is noted for playing Mob lawyer character Steven Kordo in the 1986–88 NBC detective series Crime Story...
as Doug Oberts - Tim Biancalana as Hank Mirren
- Kenneth Anderson as Lanky Man
Production
Zenith was written and directed by Vladan NikolicVladan Nikolic
Vladan Nikolic is a Serbian independent film director, screenwriter and film producer. His awards include the TV Sarajevo Award and Zeta Film Award for Best Screenplay, Telluride Indiefest Best Film Award, and Tiburon International Film Festival Golden Reel Award.Nikolic teaches film directing,...
, and filmed digitally using the Red One camera.
Alternate reality game
On August 31, 2010, Above Top SecretAbove Top Secret
Above Top Secret is a news discussion forum created by Simon Gray in 1999 as a discussion board for conspiracy, and a site for general information about conspiracy topics. Today Above top Secret is more commonly used to discuss current news articles as the Breaking News forum makes up the largest...
posted a forum thread offering a $500 reward for the first individual to correctly identify the purpose behind the website for the fictitious company "Wadjet Industries." Through a maze of websites, users quickly discovered that Wadjet Industries was related to a new film by director Vladan Nikolic
Vladan Nikolic
Vladan Nikolic is a Serbian independent film director, screenwriter and film producer. His awards include the TV Sarajevo Award and Zeta Film Award for Best Screenplay, Telluride Indiefest Best Film Award, and Tiburon International Film Festival Golden Reel Award.Nikolic teaches film directing,...
, and that the goal of the alternate reality game was to find online video clips of Ed Crowley's tapes, edit them together, and upload them via YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
to the film's promotional website, stopzenith.com.
BitTorrent promotion
On March 16, 2011, BitTorrent Inc. promoted an open licensed version (CC by-nc-ndCreative Commons licenses
Creative Commons licenses are several copyright licenses that allow the distribution of copyrighted works. The licenses differ by several combinations that condition the terms of distribution. They were initially released on December 16, 2002 by Creative Commons, a U.S...
) of the first section of the film for two weeks with Vodo.net and other torrent-based distribution partners. Users downloading BitTorrent client software are encouraged to download and share the first of three parts of the film during the software installation. On May 4 2011, Part Two of the film was made available on Vodo.
Reception
Upon the film's limited release in theaters, reviews ranged from positive to mixed.In the Village Voice, Michael Atkinson noted, "The waltz between grizzled, realistic acting (particularly from David Thornton as a spooky, upbeat post-surgery millionaire) and evocative compositions entrances, but Zenith is actually one of those films for which poverty dictates that its story be told largely through narration—a brooding science-fiction trip enjoyed largely as a monologue."
Jeannette Catsoulis in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
commented, this "bewildering collision of noir narration and purple paranoia may be long on atmosphere but is woefully short on sense."
Noel Murray of the AV Club gave the 90-minute film a C+, while calling it "an audacious, impressive feat of imagination, turning a few sets and characters into a generation-spanning look at a society where benevolence and malevolence are so finely interwoven that it’s hard to know what to fight against." Murray found that, in 90-minute film form, it "doesn’t fully work"; both the beginning and end of the film were "strong", but in between, the film seemed padded with "cheesy-looking sex and fight scenes, and with a doubling-back narrative structure" that was confusing, and looked like an "attempt to save money by reusing footage."
Brett Michel in the Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
gave the film a "B", and remarked, "persistent voiceover narration, a device that helps smooth over a lack of scene transitions — [is] one area that exposes the film’s budgetary limitations. Still, the use of dilapidated Brooklyn and Queens locations, creatively photographed by Vladimir Subotic, goes a ways toward selling a future not too far removed from ones en-visioned by Philip K. Dick or J.G. Ballard."
Loren Smith of the Boston Globe found the film "pretty good", and noted it "boasts terrific photography by Vladimir Subotic and offers a few genuine surprises. Director Nikolic [...] gets solid performances from all the actors and creates an atmosphere of mounting paranoia that’s grim and chilling," but, "the shoestring budget is often obvious, with one too many strobe-light sequences, and it is dispiriting that even a movie set in 2044 has a gold-hearted hooker as the hero’s object of desire."
External links
- "Zenith". Cinema Purgatorio (distributor).
- "Zenith: Film Review". The Whiskeydregs.com.
- "Zenith and shocks to the system". filmmakermagazine.com.
- "Daily Dose Pick: Zenith". Flavorwire.com.
- "Zenith (review)". Filmovanje.com. (Serbian)