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2002
Great Lakes Independent Film Festival
Vakvagany
 Category:
Experimental 1hr 26min
Director: Benjamin Meade
"Vakvagany," is a haunting film that
causes viewers to become dirty little voyeurs peeping
in
windows that are perhaps best left alone. You literally
take out of it what you bring in, and that's not
always a good thing. The film acts as an "experiment
in cinematic language" and has no actors and
no plot, but it does feature commentary by demon
dog James Ellroy, filmmaker Stan Brakhage and psychiatrist
Dr. Roy Menninger, who serve as tour guides giving
their own spin of what is happening on the screen.
The catalyst for this sometimes disturbing film is
found (stolen, to be honest) home movies from Budapest,
Hungary. They feature the Locsei family's life after
World War II (sans Tom Hanks). Like any family, they
seem to have problems, especially when it comes to
their son and daughter, but what these problems are
is open tointerpretation. Dad's job is suspect and
Mom may be a tad too friendly with her son, Erno.
Or is Dad a friend to the Jews and Mom just doing
what moms did in Central Europe at that time? Ellroy
has an opinion and Dr. Menninger has a different
one. Viewers can think whatever they want to. Go
in mistrusting of humans and prepare to be sickened.
Be a bit more optimistic and find a film that verges
on maudlin. One thing is for sure, Erno and his sister
strayed off the road to normal at some point in their
lives. What caused their mental problems, however,
is a bit of a mystery ...or is it? The
film features a new score by the Alloy Orchestra.
 Director:
Benjamin Meade
Filmmaker Benjamin Meade is a faculty member at Avila
University in Kansas City, Missouri, and the University
or Pecs’ in Pecs’, Hungary. He
teaches courses in Film Production, Digital Media,
and Film and Communication Theory. He is a
board member of the Center for Cognitive Studies
in Film and Video in Atlanta, Georgia, and editor
of The Journal of Moving Picture Images.
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