Unconditional Love

A Prodigy production. Produced, directed by Arthur Bjorn Egeli. Executive producer, David Ellsworth. Co-producer, Ted Collins. Screenplay, Egeli, Ian Bowater.

Steven Buchanan ... Pablo Bryant
Mary Chambers ... Aleksandra Kaniak
Melissa Gardner ... Isabelle Dahlin
Robert Hoffman ... David Ellsworth
Theresa ... Jessica Brytn Flannery
Ron Chambers ... Joe Estevez
Hal Wilson ...Hal Streit
Anne Melon ... Adrienne Newberg

Middlebrow tale of young artist freeing himself of various mentors to find his own style is beautiful to look at but not terribly profound. Fests and venues looking for something that seems deep, sexy and knowing while serving up easy-to-digest ideas may draw some business with this pic.

Chief among the film's virtues are the well-used locations in Provincetown, on the tip of Cape Cod, stunningly captured by cinematographer Teresa Medina. The images are often as attractive as the paintings we see, several of them done by producer/director/co-writer Arthur Bjorn Egeli.

Story concerns Steven (Pablo Bryant) who has been under the tutelage of older painter Robert Hoffman (David Ellsworth), adopting his impressionistic style. Steven is on the verge of his first professional showing but isn't sure if he's ready.

Fighting for his affections and attentions are his mentor, his model and lover (Jessica Brytn Flannery) and another young painter (Isabelle Dahlin) who looks up to him. Into this comes a new distraction in the person of a married next-door neighbor (Aleksandra Kaniak), who becomes model, lover and tutor, encouraging him to forgo representational painting for abstraction.

Strength of Egeli's script (written with Ian Bowater) is its depiction of young artists' doubts about whether they can really paint for a living. Most touching is Steven's friend (Hal Streit), whose youth is behind him but who hasn't yet had his big break.

Pic falls flat in its debates on impressionism vs. abstraction, an issue that was settled in the art world in the early part of this century. For the folks in the story it would be like arguing with a young filmmaker as to whether he should make a talkie or a silent film. Indeed, in this post-modern era, the dispute seems positively quaint.

Thesping is decidedly uneven, with several performers seemingly reciting speeches rather than speaking in character. Faring best are Bryant as the young artist and Streit as his older friend.

Egeli makes a valiant attempt to present what is largely his central character's internal struggle for a personal vision, but in oversimplifying the issues he ends up losing the arthouse audiences that would have been his best bet for giving the film a shot.

Camera (Colorlab), Teresa Medina; editor, Barbara Boguski; music, Michael Errington; production design, Stephen J. Lattimer; art direction, Lee Trask; costume design, Jacqueline Saint Anne; sound (Dolby), Sean Sullivan; associate producers, Joan E. Lenos, Hank Gans; assistant director, William Clark; casting, Ted Collins. Reviewed on videocassette, Boston, Sept. 1, 1994. Running time: 85 MIN.

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