SPEEDER KILLS Rating: (out of 5 stars) Director: Jim Mendiola Producer: Faith Radle Writer: Jim Mendiola Director of Photography: Jim Mendiola Cast: Amalia Ortiz, Xelina Flores

More 2003 LA Film Festival reviews.

Review by: Warren Curry
6/8/03

Jim Mendiola's DV feature, Speeder Kills, a mostly fictional film about the punk rock music scene in San Antonio, Texas, also attempts to be a punk rock film. Much like the pioneers of punk thumbed their noses at the rules of popular music, the writer/director gladly dispenses with conventional modes of cinematic storytelling and assembles his narrative in a purposely choppy fashion. It's usually intriguing to see movies that experiment with the narrative form, but Speeder Kills strays far too close to feeling like an abstract art project. Mendiola's film lacks the urgency of the music that it showcases.

Amaila (Amalia Ortiz) is an underground filmmaker living San Francisco, who's gained some acclaim for her work. Having been the recipient of a $45,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to make a film about the assimilation of Latino youth culture in contemporary American society, Amaila's ideas thus far haven't even amounted to a work-in-progress. The young woman has already returned to her native San Antonio when she receives a visit from a member of the Foundation who presents her with a harsh ultimatum -- either turn in a completed project in the next few months or pay back the $45,000.

In a needlessly drawn-out manner, Mendiola depicts Amalia's various failed ideas, and when she decides to document a band in the local punk music scene, we're shown in equally prolonged detail the groups who almost made the cut to be the documentary's subject. Having met a teenage "scenester" named Maya, who becomes Amalia's assistant, the filmmaker finds local hotshots, Speeder, and approaches them with the idea for the film. The band is hesitant, but they decide to make a deal: Speeder will serve as the subject of the documentary if Amalia agrees to make a music video for them so they can enter a local "unknown bands" contest.

The mockumentary format, complete with Amalia's narration, is a logical way to go, since the film's cast is comprised of people involved in the San Antonio music scene, including the members of Speeder, made up of 3 males and 3 females, who were indeed a real band (they broke up, but re-united for the movie). Mendiola uses an abundance of still photos as a tool to tell his story, which proves to be a somewhat ironic move since Speeder Kills suffers from a discernibly static atmosphere. There's little narrative flow to be found -- the film, which has such an exuberant foundation, barely seems to have a pulse at times.

The characters also don't possess much personality. I appreciate that Mendiola decided not to burden Speeder with performing clichéd punk rock antics -- presumably portraying them in an organic light -- but I wanted more of a sense of what made them tick. Given the premise of Amalia's assignment, I was curious to discover what would make punk rock -- a predominantly "white" genre of music -- appeal to teenage Latinos. Also, what are the dynamics within the band? Who's their audience? Are we supposed to believe that a cutting-edge artist like Amalia would be content merely to capture the band goofing around during rehearsals and "rockin' out" on stage?

Speeder Kills is supposed to be Jim Mendiola's tribute to the music and hometown he clearly loves, and having been a recipient of a Rockefeller Foundation grant himself, there's obviously a heavy biographical element to the film. To his credit, the director did choose an original approach to this personal material -- regrettably, it wasn't a particularly effective one.

(Screened at the 2003 Los Angeles Film Festival.)

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