In the early scenes of ANNIE HALL (1977), the childhood version of Woody Allen’s Alvy Singer moans that the universe is expanding, to which he gets the retort that it isn’t in Brooklyn.
In Andrew McCardle’s new experimental indie IT’S ALWAYS BEEN YOU!, the universe is touched on across the board as a group of seemingly unrelated characters are followed around the neighbourhood, as a long-dead bride from centuries before exists in a memory of the universe and herself as people try to make sense of life, the universe and everything in between.
It’s a world that the likes of David Lynch, Robert Altman and Allen might touch upon if they collaborated on a film together – and don’t expect the reflections of Spike Lee here to do the right thing. It’s very difficult to get a handle on what the film represents, but that doesn’t make it any less watchable as a piece of independent cinema, which is about as radical as you can get even in the context of where it has been designed to be created.
It is a world where radical and romantic ideals try and co-habit – and for one loved-up couple determined to make love in a graveyard, the aforementioned bride appears to be leading them anywhere and everywhere.
You will certainly try and make sense of it all and will probably be left with more questions than answers in a manner that has not been seen since Stanley Kubrick planted a monolith on Earth, the Moon and somewhere in Jupiter in 2001 – A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968). The tone shifts into a much darker tone as a sniper poises at the top of a building in Brooklyn, focusing on a group of party-goers in a scene that is subversive to what else is going on and is no less shocking.
Overall, the impression one gets is that it is purely designed to be the most radical of experimental films and echoes David Lynch’s early works like ERASERHEAD (1977) , which were designed to be purely visual experiences. In terms of characterisation, it is reflective of Altman’s works like NASHVILLE and SHORT CUTS where characters move in and out of each in a seemingly improvised way.
It’s an interesting film – and certainly demands repeat viewings to understand it more and more, however on your first viewing may take some getting used to – and please do stick with it for one of the most unusual dinner scenes ever committed to celluloid!
