Another SF film from Brit Marling

[23skidoo]

Last year Brit Marling gave us the quiet, but brilliant Another Earth which shows you don't need whiz-bang special effects or 3-D to tell a half-decent SF tale that follows the classic Roddenberry formula of focusing on the people rather than the tech. The backstory to the film is almost as interesting as the film - Marling, a cool, icy blonde who could be Lana Del Rey's sister, was tired of being offered only sex comedy-style roles so she decided to start writing her own movies as well as starring in them. Another Earth is pretty damn impressive and for some reason I always find myself comparing it to The Quiet Earth. It's nothing like it in terms of story, but for some reason it evokes the same feeling as that earlier classic. Check it out.

Meanwhile, she's back with another one that's going to be released in late April, but the first 12 minutes have been posted online and was shown at Wondercon this weekend.

The film is called Sound of My Voice in which Marling plays a cult leader who claims to be from the year 2054 after waking up in a motel bathtub with no memory of who she is.

Here's the official site with the clip. Watch for "hot spots" to show up that lead to discussion of the some of the themes. The clip is slightly NFSW as it contains nudity (in case you missed the bit about the bathtub ).

http://www.soundofmyvoicemovie.com/index2.html

Don't expect whiz-bang special effects on this one either. Indeed the first 12 minutes (and I'd imagine most of the movie) is just talk. If you're wanting to see spaceships, aliens jumping from the sky, or McQuarrie-esque alien vistas, you might want to pass.

She's apparently got a third movie on the way, though it doesn't appear to be SF in nature. I'd guess Another Earth and Sound of My Voice, combined, probably have a smaller budget than a Doctor Who episode, but I'm still quite impressed with this new independent SF voice. Makes for a nice antidote from, say, John Carter and films that make you put on silly glasses.

Alex

[Mistral]

Watched the trailer. That was really interesting. Reminded me of The Man From Earth or Kpax. I would like to see this. Is the other movie, Alternate Earth, available on a Net viewing site or do I have to find the disc?

[Ar-Pharazon]

Well that trailer really does look interesting. A little confusing, but I suppose if we're going to know what's going on, we'll have to watch the whole movie.

I definitely didn't miss the part about the bathtub and that girl with the upturned nose is really cute.

[PsychoPere]

Another Earth was a wonderful little film. This now has my attention, so thank you, 23skidoo, for posting this thread.

Haven't watched the trailer yet or that clip, but I don't think I even need to since I really liked Marling's first effort.

Mistral wrote:

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Is the other movie, Alternate Earth, available on a Net viewing site or do I have to find the disc?

Amazon.com Instant Video has Another Earth as a $3.99 rental, as does iTunes US.

[Agent Richard07]

I saw this movie last night and loved it. It's the kind of film where you have to pay attention and do some thinking afterwards, or even watch the whole thing again. Between this and Another Earth, Brit Marling has done well for herself. And yeah, I also just read that she wrote both of these so that she could provide her own work as an actress. And now she's gotten the attention of some bigger mainstream actors and directors. Good for her.

This and Safety Not Guaranteed were quite good. I'd love to see more scifi along these lines.

[Kegg]

I enjoyed Another Earth well enough (good but not great), so I'd definitely watch this when it comes around. Thanks for pointing this out.