Playing with mirrors and sleek geometric patterns, DP Andrew Reed’s style has an almost European feel, alternating between meticulously choreographed Steadicam shots and chilly arm’s-length compositions (including a motorcycle chase framed from an impossibly far remove). From its opening palm-tree-lined drive, Katz succeeds in turning the iconic city upside-down and inside-out.
#GEMINI MOVIE CHANNEL SERIES#
Absorbing much of its production value from a series of stunning architectural locations - a mix of old Hollywood and newer, more modern structures - and carefully art directed in cool blues and golds, “Gemini” defies the sunny, almost tropical feel of so many Los Angeles movies.
And besides, how could she possibly have anticipated the worst-case scenario awaiting her when she returns from a particularly noxious early-morning errand? There, lying in a pool of blood in Heather’s hallways, is the star’s body, shot through five times with a gun that, suspiciously enough, belongs to Jill.Īnd so the tone shifts ever so gracefully from a “Mulholland Drive”-style study of these two Tinseltown doubles to a more “Night Moves”-like genre-movie homage. Still, protective as she is, Jill can’t necessarily be there to shoulder all of Heather’s troubles.
Ditto when an overzealous paparazzo starts asking personal questions about the celeb’s recent breakup, insinuating that the relationship between star and assistant runs far deeper than fans realize (as it actually does for so many stars). When an intense young fan with an uncanny resemblance to Heather approaches them at the diner, it’s Jill’s job to shield her boss. Like a bodyguard, surrogate sister, and personal servant in one, Jill does her job without complaint. Compared to Kirke, Kravitz (appropriately) comes across more aloof and ethereal, and slightly fragile to boot.įaced with the prospect of telling a director (Nelson Franklin) that she’s bailing on his project, Heather asks Jill to do her dirty work. She has an uncanny way of just being on screen, which is the perfect state for her character, Jill LeBeau, unseen shadow to a young movie star named Heather Anderson (Zoë Kravitz). The film’s sly refinement isn’t so immediately apparent, as “Gemini” begins quite casually in the suburbs of L.A., idling in the car with Lola Kirke, an actress who - like “Mistress America” co-star Greta Gerwig - doesn’t seem like an actress at all. Despite having been made on modest means (and produced by Adele Romanski, the patron saint of “Moonlight,” among others), “Gemini” is every bit as elegant and stylish as French director Olivier Assayas’ last two movies, “Clouds of Sils Maria” and “Personal Shopper” - and could conceivably do similar business. A few years back, indie director Aaron Katz moved to Los Angeles from Portland, Ore., synthesizing his impressions into the gleaming blue sapphire that is “Gemini,” a subtle, sophisticated neo-noir focused on the odd co-dependent relationship between a starlet and her personal assistant - and how that dynamic is tested when one of them drops dead.Īlthough Katz unveiled “Gemini” at South by Southwest (the same film festival that effectively “discovered” him 11 years earlier with “Dance Party, USA”), this sleek and playful identity puzzler would have been right at home at Sundance (which screened his last, the Iceland-set “Land Ho!”) - or Cannes, for that matter. There’s an old saying that goes, “Nobody comes from Los Angeles.” Rather, the city is made up of millions of displaced souls who’ve found their way to Los Angeles from someplace else, which goes a long way to explain why no two filmmakers seem to view the city in the same way - because everyone, in some way, is an outsider there.
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