Product Details

• Actors: Patrick Belton, Mary Thornton, Ronne Orenna
• Directors: Pi Ware, Susan Kraker
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Indican
• DVD Release Date: October 17, 2006
• Run Time: 99 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B000BT990C
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #303,935 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Solitude (Collector's Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Arizona Desert Provides Stark Setting for Dysfunction-Driven Psycho-Drama These first-time filmmakers have produced a multi-layered mystery every bit as intriguing as the best whodunit one might expect from a big Hollywood studio. At first focus we find a bonding bohemian twosome, Hilary (Mary Thornton) and Soledad (Ronne Orenna), cozily floundering in a flophouse on a commune in the desert somewhere outside of Phoenix. As the story opens, they've agreed to relocate to Flagstaff, with plans of having Hilary act as agent for Native American artist Soledad. But after packing her portfolio, Soledad discovers that the pick-up truck won't start. The determined duo then head over to Hilary's depressed brother's unsanitary pig-sty of an apartment to borrow his car. Lucky for lazy slob Louis (Patrick Belton), they arrive just in time to prevent the bottomed-out loser from slitting his wrists. Instead of continuing out of town, Hilary convinces an understandingly alarmed Soledad that they need to move in, at least until her suicidal sibling sobers up and stabilizes mentally. What ensues is an ever-escalating, sexually-charged game of give-and-take, fueled by alcohol, pot, pills and plenty of selfish manipulation. Congrats to the cast for expertly executing Ware and Kraker s cleverly-crafted script which often seems so sophisticated that it must have been meant for the stage. It s stocked with enough twists to keep any audience on the edge of its seat every step of the way and wondering exactly who s kidding who here. Are the women lesbians and lovers? Is the dysfunctional, co-dependent brother-sister relationship incestuous? Are Soledad and Louis attracted to each other? How these possible permutations will play out in this combustible, claustrophobic pressure cooker is anybody s guess. A lacerating look at three lives on the edge. Excellent (4 stars). --Kam Williams, Philadelphia Sun

Product Description

Sex, betrayal, dysfunction... Welcome to the family. Louis and Hilary are a twisted brother and sister who like to badger, berate and bewitch each other. Hilary s girlfriend, Soledad, gets sucked into their fun and games , where love and betrayal often mean the same thing.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Talented actors - Dysfunctional decisions?, March 30, 2006

By 

Jeff Anderson "Jeff" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solitude (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

This movie explores characters dealing with their taboo motivations.

The movie touches on some of these questions: Should a person be honest and frank, even when it is taboo? When a person genuinely loves another human being, should the person let go of all other romantic or intimate entanglements?

This film flips a classic love triangle on its side, with complicated contradictions, to try to give the viewer an uncommon perspective on these ethical questions.

Without giving away the ending, one of the characters does an about face at the end of the movie, changing from kind to cruel (or is it cruel to kind? - guess it depends on your POV). Does love still exist after that separation? And if it does still exist, is it a healthy love? Can a healthy love ever exist with complete and indefinite separation? Or does the movie intend to ask the question: What forces or concepts, good or bad, cause you to exclude others you care about?

I was distracted by the cinematography, and camera POVs, which was a shame, because I think the close proximity of the cameras distracted from the exceptional acting by all the cast (except for the pizza delivery guy of course). But I can understand if the camera was intentionally "too close" because a point of the film may be that these type of characters are too close and they can quickly get in your face faster than you may want.

Patrick Belton is solid, believable at different extremes. Mary Thornton is persuasive, capturing both kindness and ruthlessness. Ronne Orenna is so good at singing in the film that it almost breaks the suspension of disbelief. She reminds us how amazingly and multiply talented some human beings are.

It took courage for Pi Ware, Susan Kraker, and all the other creators to make this film. I appreciate their work.