Daryl Hannah describes her new film, “Paradox,” as a poem.
I’m not sure she has ever read poetry.
“Paradox” is concert/ concept film directed by Hannah and starring musician Neil Young doing his best Johnny Cash as The Man in the Black Hat. Set in a future that has returned the world back to frontier standards of living, Young lives on a ranch with his backing band—Promise of the Real, who go out into the wilderness scavenging for old technology like cell phones and computer keyboards. They say things like “you know what I just love? That things keep circling around” while sitting in an outhouse. And then they gather together in a big tent and play music together. People who attend the performances tie a rope around their waist because the joyous sound of music causes them to float into the air like balloons.
The film is shot with a music video’s attention span. There are quick cuts to deer running through the woods, grainy images of nature, time lapse of the clouds passing over head.
Told in three chapters (stanzas?), the first introduces the characters, the second acts as more of a concert video—starting within the narrative and then moving to actual Neil Young concert footage. The third takes viewers back into the frontier where the men are excited that a bus full of women is on its way for Breeding Day.
We also see glimpses of The Man in the Black Hat, mostly being a dark and mysterious loner, but he does make a trek into town to rob a bank with Willie Nelson.
The film was shot over three days from a 10-page script. If there is one positive to the film it’s that it is mercifully short, clocking in at just over 70 minutes (though that is still about 60 minutes more than it needed to be).
And for a film about music, how one enjoys the music will largely depend on if one is a Neil Young fan or not.
“Paradox” tries to be many things but isn’t much more than a mess. Viewers are reminded right away that the cast is made up primarily of musicians because they can’t act. As an art film it goes for music video aesthetic, preferring tropes over anything new and artistic. And calling it a poem is an insult to poets who have worked hard to master a difficult craft.
"Paradox" is currently streaming on Netflix.