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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Local indie filmmaker profiles ‘Real Genius’
Wednesday 07 July @ 14:17:54 |
 ‘Half-mockumentary’ mixes reality, fiction
by Anitra Budd
Local filmmaker Ruben Nusz’s new “half-mockumentary,” “A Real Genius,” is in the same gray area between documentary and fiction as the recent film “Adaptation,” with an exaggerated portrait of a real person. The person and self-described genius of the title is Minneapolis artist Scott Ervin, a rambling, scattered, hyphenated jumble of an artist-architect-inventor-dreamer.
 Ervin becomes driven by the idea of synchronizing lights atop all the buildings in the Minneapolis skyline to flash to the tune of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, which Minnesota Public Radio will be playing to ring in the New Year. Ervin labels his grand idea Project #1,273, and spends the film working out its details while also trying to make an online love connection.
Nusz seems particularly qualified to tell this strange and funny fable. Already a prolific painter, photographer and screenwriter himself at the tender age of 26, he can now add “talented director” to his super-artist utility belt as well.
With the help of the Northern Guild, a filmmakers’ cooperative committed to sharing skills and resources, Nusz’ film neatly sidesteps the pitfalls you might expect from a young director, like poor pacing, flat jokes and endless shots of pensive women. What we have instead is a tight, well-crafted piece whose fictional hero is funny enough to laugh at but still real enough to care about.
From the beginning you question just how authentic Ervin’s genius really is. His ideas and inventions run the gamut of illogic, from glasses for vision-impaired dogs to a machine that (almost) turns the pages when you’re reading a book. As one of Ervin’s former co-workers muses, the device isn’t very useful unless you don’t have arms. Even the documentary crew raises some doubts when he demonstrates his supposed speed-reading skill.
It’s as if Ervin’s managed to convince the world he’s special through sheer determination. When he does get around to actually taking an online I.Q. test, it turns out to be linked to a dating site. Never since Peggy Hill on “King of the Hill” has someone been so convinced of their greatness with such little real evidence.
The movie uses this “is he or isn’t he?” premise to ask interesting questions about what a genius really is, especially a genius living in Minnesota. Most of Ervin’s friends and acquaintances (a great cast of local talent) have no idea why he bothers with so many “useless” ideas, but rush to say that they still respect him because he finishes what he starts. If Ervin’s work ethic is strong, however, many of his projects, especially #1,273, don’t have much to offer in the way of practical results.
 Ervin runs into a similar problem when he goes on a first date with Theresa, a woman he meets on the online dating site. He’s got the basic idea of how dates work but falls short when it comes to the reality. He casually asks her to crawl through the window of his car’s broken passenger door.
After an awkward dinner at the Baja Grill, Theresa isn’t eager to repeat the experience — but she is a nice Minnesota girl and doesn’t say so. Narcissist that he is, Ervin decides “no news is good news,” and that the date was a success. Nusz makes great use of the documentary format to inject even more tension into the date — as if watching someone else’s first date crash and burn wasn’t enough to make your skin crawl.
Even though Ervin is self-involved to the point of nearly being a sociopath (albeit a goofy one), he still craves an audience for his life. He wants other people to accept the value of his inventions, but he also wants to get everyone in the world as excited about life’s possibilities as he is. In the beginning of the film he mentions how hard it is for most people to imagine things being any different than what they are right now. And even though this sentiment comes from a man who doesn’t always wear his shirts right-side out, he is passionate and sincere, and you hope one of his attempts to help the world will actually pan out.
Ultimately, it’s this mix of sad and silly that makes “A Real Genius” into the best kind of mockumentary: one that seems completely true.
“A Real Genius” premieres on July 13th at the Bryant-Lake Bowl, 810 W. Lake St. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. show time at 8 p.m. The movie is free but seating is limited, so early arrival is recommended.
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