Fellow CU alumnus, Mike Goodman’s, “A Deadly Affair” was unfortunately accepted into this year’s ImagineNative film festival. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have any animosity towards Mike personally, I only had to endure this poorly constructed homage to film noir. It was so poorly lit (in this case overly lit–not in the traditional low-key lighting style of film noir) that it did a disservice to that classical genre; there were more grays than shadows and highlights. This film is an obvious example of not paying attention to detail. I’m not saying that Mike is a bad filmmaker, I’m simply saying that this film has been given credit where credit is not due.

Let me address some problematic issues with this film. The use of a replica 1940s vehicle that looked more like a modified hotrod especially when a camera tilt down revealed the specialized chrome rims completely jolted me out of my suspended belief. Another problematic area was the very sophomoric attempt at special effects, both visually and audibly. The special audio effect of the gunshot was so muted it most definitely was discerned as some non-diegetic sound—I myself perceived it to be a thud off camera. I felt embarrassed of the image-sound relationship in this film. The accompanying visual effect of gun smoke, which was expelled from the revolver’s barrel, was non-existent on the wall as shadow, yet the gun and hand holding the gun were existent. The gun smoke special effect was an obvious post-production addition, yet it’s cause-effect relationship was parochial. The acting was sub-par at best; the two male cast members were over dramatic and poorly directed, inducing a cringing sensation while watching their performances. This film does not represent the high caliber of work that usually comes out the University of Colorado.

“A Deadly Affair” is a film that should have been excluded by Navajo Spotlight I curator, Charmaine Jackson-John, but apparently she overlooked the deficiencies present within the film to include it in this survey of films. Regarding Charmain Jackson-John, I’m not sure what her curatorial credentials are, but it seems the inclusion of this particular film failed to create a cohesive and well-rounded program. When a film of such low caliber is included in a body of work, it stands out in stark contrast to those other, more deserving films. This creates an atmosphere of ambivalence regarding–in this case–Navajo filmmaking. I believe the rest of the films she incorporated in this spotlight provided a wonderful view into the insight and perspective of Navajo filmmakers. Overall, this was one of two films (possibly three) that shouldn’t have made it past the screeners into any program, but incidents like this are bound to occur.

written by Torry Mendoza