Do you know what a sasquatch is? If not, here’s a little crash course for you: The term is the Canadian name for the mystical mythical creature that comes from American folklore and is better known to us as Bigfoot. Over the decades, reports have repeatedly emerged from alleged eyewitnesses who claim to have seen the oversized mix of humans and apes in US mountains or forests.
Why is this important? Because the directing duo David and Nathan Zellner made an 88-minute film called Sasquatch Sunset, which is showing at the current Berlinale. With Hollywood stars, but no dialogue. And him is about nothing other than the everyday life of a group of four Sasquatch.
The plot of the fantasy adventure film Sasquatch Sunset? Oh well…
It’s hard to discern a story in the Zellners’ incomparable work. Sasquatch Sunset accompanies the eponymous fur creatures through the four seasons and observes their life in the wild. The directors, of whom Nathan Zellner himself is in one of the costumes, show the sasquatchs eating leaves, devouring berries or gutting fish.
In rougher scenes we also get to see Sasquatchs having sex, i.ehaving to puke from unknowingly consuming a poisonous mushroom or peeing and defecating on it after discovering a road in the middle of nowhere.
The fantasy-adventure mix shows that sasquatch life is simple and yet dangerous. The nature in which they live is sometimes merciless and so it is not surprising that not every one of the four furry creatures makes it out of the film unscathed.
The appeal of Sasquatch Sunset is that the Zellners As bizarre as it is simple, just give it a try and see what happens. Just as there is no plot, there is no dramaturgy, even if every now and then an attempt is made to generate compassion and, above all, sympathy for the mythical creatures.
Bleecker St
Sasquatch Sunset
Sasquatch Sunset doesn’t need a story, but a clearer line would have been nice
For the most part, Sasquatch Sunset is actually the film that the bizarre first trailer promised. The fact that well-known stars like Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) and Riley Keough (Daisy Jones and The Six) are supposed to be behind the costumes of the exclusively grunting, screaming, roaring or moaning monsters could just as easily be a marketing gimmick.
The Zellners probably don’t want to expect too much from their audience. The directors embellish primitive and infantile elements. The raw, chaotic energy of disgusting moments and fart jokes is decorated with a very harmonious, often really picturesque production.
There are always sun-drenched landscape panoramas through which the Sasquatchs move. A piece of music from the soundtrack swells, which immediately gets stuck in your head with the catchy guitar melody.
Unfortunately, the naive fun of the completely crazy thing isn’t enough here. The directing duo would rather bring the charming weirdo hit to the cinema than bravely offend. Sasquatch Sunset is also one of the most idiosyncratic, interesting film experiments in recent cinema history. Sometimes that’s enough.
Sasquatch Sunset is running as a Berlinale Special at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival. A German cinema release has not yet been determined.