But now, you see her curiosity throughout the first act of. Calonne, David Stephen. So not only do we shoot La Caada as the stand-in for our kind of upper middle-class neighborhood, but we also shoot in the deeper parts of the Valley more north, like Sylmar, where it [suggests a different class]., Yeah, Sylmar was more the latter half of the film, feeling all the dread and the emptiness, continued Broyles. keys best up at one end of the piano where there was hardly any sound at all-- the sound the keys made was like chips of ice striking against one another. Filed Under: A+E, Film. but that said, it doesn't really matter. Chinaski has been compared to both Frankenstein's monster and Kafka's Gregor Samsa, because of his alienation and outcast resulting from his "monstrous" appearance. 5 (3): 5, Fontana, Ernest. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Girls primp their frou-frou dresses and exchange back-spinning compliments according to arcane queen bee hierarchies, before posing on stairways as parents twitter and coo at them with cameras. She was 12, and now shes 18 going on 19 The fun little tidbit I like to say about working with her on these projects is that I only realized during the rehearsals, which was a months-long process, that the character of Haley in, is actually the same character as Poll Flowerpot from, , her curiosity always brings her closer to other peoplethats what her youth afforded to her. In the beginning, and just for a little while, Tyler Taormina's "Ham on Rye" seems like every other no-budget suburban coming-of-ager you've ever seen, if maybe better shot. Thats suggested from the starta scene at a public park that under another director mightve been rendered chaotic but that under Taorminas eye is cut down into digestible insert shots which seem to archive each action or gesture: a hand trying to spark a cheap lighter, another working to retune a guitar, yet another grasping an ad-perfect glass of lemonade. Twayne Publishers, New York, 1997. p. 35. Ham on Rye, the feature film debut of Long Island-native, Los Angeles-beached Tyler Taormina, is one of the strangest and most discomfiting "coming-of-age" films of recent memory.I put "coming-of-age" in quotes because, yes, ostensibly it follows children between the ages of 15 and 18 becoming Something Else, Something Bigger. Thats as misleading as calling Eraserhead a reluctant-groom rom-com. 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Henry is not athletic but wants to be and therefore tries hard to improve. Its kind of about how you grow up and curiosityespecially curiosity about systems and societal functionsis not welcomed. Does Massachusetts Underestimate Its Greenhouse Gas Emissions? Like his previous autobiographical novels, Ham on Rye centers on the life of Henry Chinaski, this time during his childhood and teenage years. Like his previous works, Ham on Rye is set in Los Angeles where the author grew up. And its here that the film matures into a weirdly sorrowful look at what our world does to teenagers, at the exceptionalism peddled to them without any sense of what they are exceptional from, and how much more likely it is, when you deal in the currency of exclusivity, that you will end up among the excluded. But now, you see her curiosity throughout the first act of Ham on Rye, and what does it give her? The grotesque-looking boils of his acne vulgaris will eventually turn their excuses for hating him into an ostracizing trifecta. At the age of three, he came with his family to the United States and grew up in Los Angeles. What's immediately delightful about Ham on Rye is the ghostly sense of escalation. About to read Post office next. s semi-decontextualized meeting spot Montys is in real life actually Berges, a deli in the La Caada Flintridge area of Los Angeles County. The post-facto rationalizations they concoct for their hostility, however, involve his inability to play sports and his being viscerally revolted by cruelty to animals, the latter being one of the favorite past-times of neighborhood men and boys alike. Same goes for something that Taormina said to AwardsDaily in early 2019, which seems way too key not to reproduce here: The script was born through that feeling of nervous confrontation to [rituals] and then it bloomed into What happens to those who dont get selected?, he said back then. Where Kaufman jams his long sweeping camera shots and claustrophobic car journey with anxious forced repartee, Taormina pushes his lens uncomfortably close for extended runs with little dialogue. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Image from Ham on Rye, courtesy Factory 25. A puzzling but artful look at teenage alienation. In the beginning, and just for a little while, Tyler Taorminas Ham on Rye seems like every other no-budget suburban coming-of-ager youve ever seen, if maybe better shot. Ham on Rye is a 1982 semi-autobiographical novel by American author and poet Charles Bukowski. The mood is now fairly forlorn, best embodied by Sloan (Cole Devine), a 20-something cook at Montys whos mourning some kind of loss. They literally haunt my dreams., a short film that he produced and directed in 2016, opened at the Brattle Theatres Virtual Cinema on October 23, where it remains available to rent now, As Prices Soar, Fossil Fuel Industry Looks After Its Interests On Beacon Hill, Photo Dispatch: Ukraine Day Rally In Bostons Copley Square, State Wire: EPA Encouraged To Strengthen Air-Quality Standards For Soot, Mass Baby Bonds Bill Aims To Close Racial Wealth Gap. Were not told when the film is taking place, or where the film is taking place, or even whats the deal with this big local event all the kids are moving towards. Director of photography: Carson Lund Charles Bukowski. Well come to identify most with Haley (Haley Bodell), a mild-mannered girl who, like her two friends (Audrey Boos and Gabriella Herrara), is more dressed for a conventional school dance than most attendees. The teenagers most of them acting first-timers, with an untrained awkwardness in tune with the off-kilter vibe collect into little tribes, on their way to a bizarre social event, held at the uninspiring Montys Deli. Get help and learn more about the design. Bukowski's Ham on Rye and the Los Angeles Novel. has successfully conjured up a cinematic space where all those aforementioned experiences have been quite purposefully blended together, forming a sunlit anxiety dream of a generic suburban upbringing. , Taormina said. In a varied ensemble of more than a hundred (many of them nonactors), just a few of them get names, and only a few more get to say or do enough things to project any kind of identity beyond their appearance. The one character that carries over from the pre-ceremony segments to the post- is Haley, played by the same Haley Bodell of Suburban Legends, whose only acting credits to date are for Taormina. Whats established instead are countless signifiers of a semi-contemporary American upbringing: from overarching, stuff like scenes of characters preparing for something like a prom (three girls in frilly dresses being photographed by their overexcited parents, see above), and then carpooling there (the parents now waving at the door like the first day of school, another ceremony) to smaller details seen in briefer shots like the decor of a longhair musicians car (beads on the rear view, bandana on the passenger seat), or a particularly rebellious-looking kid scraping a stick against a fence (which in this context cant help but recall, , ur-text of the American coming-of-age storya narrative lineage that, Its a day were going to remember for the rest of our lives, says the opening dialogue, and the generic phrasing blurs certain lines to build upon the very particular biorhythmic point where Taorminas movie takes place: A kid who says that might be talking about their prom, or about having sex, or about moving out, or maybe even about school graduation, among other possibilitiesbut no matter what, theyre probably talking about something meant to happen in the period that weve come to calling. Jake seems intent on displaying his shaky self-worth. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. If this novel is basically autobiographical, the author leaves himself no place to hide. Tyler Taorminas debut film starts in the vein of classic high-school comedies until it turns toward a dark surrealism. So now when I read. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ham on Rye". However, he rarely is completely confident with his own abilities and often second-guesses himself. Jake disappears and appears. Producers: David Croley Broyles, Michael Basta, Carson Lund, Sergio Uguet de Resayre, David Entin As Lund has written about himself in an indispensable piece for Filmmaker Magazine headlinedOver 100 Cast Members and No Permits: How I Shot Ham on Rye in Los Angeles, the films faceless neighborhood locations were stolen from various spots across that cityso for example Ham on Ryes semi-decontextualized meeting spot Montys is in real life actually Berges, a deli in the La Caada Flintridge area of Los Angeles County. Costume designer: Niki Firanek Brewer, Gay. is what comes up after the big Montys scene, when day turns to night, and when most of, s first-half cast disappears from the picture. Even the oddest moves seem welcome. He only wanted to be left alone to drink. Written in the first person, the novel follows Henry Chinaski, Bukowski's thinly veiled alter ego, during his early years. Turns out, Taormina mistrusts the high school dramedy as much as you do, and hes here to skewer its inanity with odd insight and deep, perhaps angry melancholy: a cocktail stick of profundity pins this hoagie through the heart. Ham On Rye was an absolutely enthralling experience and taking this journey with Henry "Hank" Chinaski was nothing short of a delight. As Mass Reconsiders Life Without Parole For 18 To 20-year-olds, Will Race Matter? Production designer: Emily Scott Simpson The farmhouse seems to change shape, furnishings and configuration. Brewer, Gay. Without giving away too much, lets say the rest of the plot recalls the great Shirley Jackson story The Lottery. But theres no overt horror element, or violence, here. And then, also being from the suburbs myself, youre dealing with these signifiers that are very familiar to me. In a mainstream teen film, that sense of social abandonment is a unifier, redeemed in one way or another with the promise that life has something better in store. He taught Chinese and American History at the college level, worked with Eastern Kentucky Welfare Rights Org. Like for instance, one boy carries around this strange pig toywhich of course aligns with the films title as well as with another scene where someone refers to porking [as] the ultimate purposethat eventually lands in the hands of an older character, who discards it with some disgust. Its roots go that far down, and spread that far wide under the strange earth of the American suburb. Love all Bukowski work. One also notices that while before the dialogue was ambiguously foreshadowing, now its ambiguously looking backwards (the way Lund put it is, in the second half the dialogue becomes more textural than expository.) And this all leads to a backyard cookout populated by a large group including some faces at least vaguely familiar to viewers of the millennial demographic: Lori Beth Denberg of, (1994-98), Danny Tamberelli and Aaron Schwartz of, The one character that carries over from the pre-ceremony segments to the post- is Haley, played by the same Haley Bodell of, , whose only acting credits to date are for Taormina. Like a spectre left haunting the grounds after her fellows have moved on, the Haley character spends the second half of Ham on Rye in emptied-out spaces like bedrooms and street curbs, completing the articulation of a metatextual idea first initiated by those kids-television cameosthe image of the child stars left behind. Like Henry, the rest of the Chinaskis are modeled after Bukowski's own family. This stems in large part from his home life, in which he is beaten frequently (often for no reason) by his father. Written in the first person, the novel follows Henry Chinaski, Bukowski's thinly veiled alter ego, during his early years. Then the something-weird happens and "Ham on Rye" turns its attention to the teenagers who weren't at the dance: Haley, who left in a pique of embarrassment after being passed over by a boy . First time director Tyler Taorminas landscape in Ham on Rye (85 minutes) is both smaller and larger than Kaufmans Im Thinking of Ending Things. "Ham on Rye" was shot in and around the San Fernando Valley area, north of Los Angeles, a favorite of Paul Thomas Anderson, and the film's DP Carson Lund effectively evokes that neighborhood's. Ham on Rye is not obviously political, but it is also deeply political, pointing out, in lazy, absurdist, carelessly clever frames a deep-set American wrongness that was quietly murmuring away long before the current blowhard moment, and that will continue long after. a simple language is used, and bombs go off without much fanfare. Written in the first person, the novel follows Henry Chinaski, Bukowski's thinly veiled alter ego, during his early years. Charles Bukowski. is the key word there: During this first movement of, whats most narratively engaging is the matter of whats been established for sure vs. whats left deliberately unclear. She is, in fact, a victim of her husband's brutality as well. As they wend their way through more or less quiet streets, the boys talk, crudely but with awkward innocence, about sex. When you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. With the snow falling heavily, the ride back itself may only substitute one danger for another. Bukowski keeps his descriptions of his hometown grounded in reality, paying more attention to the people that make up Los Angeles than to the city itself. Probably more than anything else, Ham on Rye works to give young adulthood some of its ceremony back. [2] The story takes place at home, at his different schools, at the doctor's office (for his never-ending acne treatments) and at various other locales around town. As Henry begins High School, his father, who is experiencing downward inter-generational socioeconomic mobility, makes him go to a private school where he fits in even less amongst all the well-heeled, spoiled rich kids with their flashy, colorful, convertible sports cars and beautiful girlfriends. Afterwards, you get a sense of the sadness and defeat of the people who are left behind. The specifics are never explained, but we suspect that some years ago, he was in Haleys shoes. It is brutal, sad, cynical, profound, funny and heartbreaking all at the same time. I think in the first half the film is trying to make that same impression for the viewer a little bitall of this excess, all of this gravity thats applied to the mundane but ends up meaning so much [later on] that attention to the details of mise en scne was part of what made me interested in working on it. Viewers will likely feel similarly connected to the characters whether they graduated high school in the 60s or last spring. 1985. She is, in fact, a victim of her husband's brutality as well. 2023 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. But part of what makes Ham on Rye special is how dutifully it avoids the lack of depth that usually accompanies utilizing deliberately generic settings. The first part of the picture bounces around in an unnamed town (it was shot in the San Fernando Valley) that is dubiously situated in time: We see cellphones only a few times, and nothing about costumes, hair or background music roots us firmly in the present. Both Ham on Rye and Im Thinking of Ending Things deal with the tensions of young Americas uncertain future. Twayne Publishers, New York, 1997. p. 40, 41. This stems in large part from his home life, in which he is beaten frequently (often for no reason) by his father. The Review of Contemporary Fiction. in emptied-out spaces like bedrooms and street curbs, completing the articulation of a metatextual idea first initiated by those kids-television cameosthe image of the child stars left behind. Interesting view into the life of a boy who just never caught a break. Written in Bukowski's characteristically straightforward prose, the novel tells of his coming-of-age in Los Angeles during the Great Depression. Transgression becomes even more unfathomable when an entire global generation seems to share the same path in gentrifying the cities, Taormina wrote for an interview published by Film Comment (also suggesting one of his films many productive contradictionsthat its a lament for the loss of a suburban experience produced almost exclusively in urban spaces). Ham on RyeNot rated. Like his previous autobiographical novels, Ham on Rye centers on the life of Henry Chinaski, this time during his childhood and teenage years. The novel focuses on the protagonist, Henry Chinaski, between the years of 1920 and 1941. Ham on Rye makes no such assurances which of course makes it more honest, even if its oblique lessons will be heard by a tiny, tiny fraction of the number who navigated adolescence by the compass of John Hughes. Sad, gloomy and angry. Werent most of us? Its late spring in the suburbs, and boys and girls of high-school age are dressing up not quite in prom wear, but in sundresses and ties and jackets, headed to some kind of event. And itll cause you a lotta grief. Ham on Rye explained Ham on Rye is a 1982 semi- autobiographical novel by American author and poet Charles Bukowski. In other parts of town, slightly older kids, a bit disheveled and aimless, drive around in cars, tune guitars and look dissatisfied. Though of course Taormina can pull the episodes whenever he wants, or Youtube or Vimeo could take them down for any reason including none whatsoever, and then theyd be left to a small handful of hard drives, at most, where a random crash might erase them on any given sunday. Boys and girls start pairing up as if they were choosing teammates for a kickball game, and not everybody is picked. Michael Berkowitz, a veteran of the civil rights and anti-war movements, has been Land Use Planning Consultant to the government of China for many years. Which have a bit of psychedelia to them, and that gauzy look. Director Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) ratchets up American gothic to psychological horror as he distorts time, place and relationships, scattering uneasy references to the musical Oklahoma, the film Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and poetryIntimations of Immortality. Louisa may be thinking of ending itbut Jake may actually be the one to end it after all! A hauntingly. The kids have phones, but they seem to be flip-tops, seldom used, and when later some of the older boys glide off into the night on more modish electronic hoverboards, somehow the contradiction doesnt disrupt the films own little enclosed continuum. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. And with the exception of a couple of surprising mood changes on the dance floor and off, thats about all in the film you could describe as a plot. A longtime film critic for Slant Magazine among other publications, he began writing reviews for our paper earlier this summerthough I first met him long before that, in 2014, when we had a conversation at the Harvard Film Archive regarding the films of director Wojciech J. Executive producers: Tyler Taormina, Eric Berger, Kevin Anton It's not PC, perhaps that's part of its appeal. The hoagie sandwiches arrive right before the ceremony itself, which blends the standard beats of school dances with suggestions of awkward youthful sex and celebratory school graduations, not to mention just about every other young-adult maturation ritual you can think of, at a spot named Montys Deli. I think you could read Ham on Rye along those exact linesits not cute anymoreand come away with a pretty fair understanding of the film. Ham on Rye is a satirical parable on conformism and aspiration, and it speaks to anyone who, in settled adulthood, looks back to when their life and romantic chances were arbitrarily decided by. His lack of publishing success at this time caused him to give up writing in 1946 and spurred a ten-year stint of heavy drinking. Cinematic didacticism has given way to filmmakers content to raise questions they wont or cant answer. This deliberately coy prologue begets the opening credits sequence (introducing characters with more close-ups of little details, like a tie being fastened or a nail being painted), which then feeds directly into the films real first section, where for about 20 minutes small cliques of seemingly high school-aged kids walk through various neighborhoods on their way to an unspoken happening. For independent filmmakers, Los Angeles is a city of contradictions: it's both an ideal place to congregate with likeminded artists and craftspeople, and a truly daunting place to actualize on . This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. Its held at a local sandwich shop called Montys, and begins with everyone dining quietly. But things like that were very important [to me]. Ham on Rye 's second half is informed with a kind of survivor's guilt that's also reminiscent of Carrie. At the start of the film, before the dance, you get a sense of the excitement and hope for the future. Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is Copyright 2009-2022, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. To make matters worse, Chinaski develops horrible acne so severe that he has to undergo painful, and mostly ineffective, treatments, essentially becoming a human guinea pig for various experiments thought up by his uninterested doctors. This type of description does not venerate or idealize the city, a contrast to other so-called "Los Angeles Novels". On the side note, I relate liked the book as I could easily emphasize with Henty moat of the time, but I still cannot understand the last part! but you can choose how you rise above, some with words, other with action. But then, ringleader Gwen (Audrey Boos) really has to shit and skips across a lawn to up to a house, and however, the shot is framed and lit, it looks like 70s De Palma, all glowy and romantic with a foretaste of horror. Reaktion Books, London, 2012. p. 146. One also notices that while before the dialogue was ambiguously foreshadowing, now its ambiguously looking backwards (the way Lund put it is, in the second half the dialogue becomes more textural than expository.) And this all leads to a backyard cookout populated by a large group including some faces at least vaguely familiar to viewers of the millennial demographic: Lori Beth Denberg of All That (1994-98), Danny Tamberelli and Aaron Schwartz of The Mighty Ducks (1992) and The Adventures of Pete & Pete (1992-96), and Clayton Snyder of Lizzie McGuire (2001-04). Written in Bukowski's characteristically straightforward prose, the novel tells of his coming-of-age in Los Angeles during the Great Depression. Throughout the course of the novel, Bukowski develops his misanthropic anti-hero character that is seen in his other works like Post Office and Hollywood. The second half is darker and lonelier, following those left behind, especially Haley (Haley Bodell), who ran from the diner when her humiliation became too great and is now, like all her fellow rejects, apparently condemned never to escape this world of duck ponds, wisteria-draped driveways, and doorbells that are never answered. Cookie policy. ". Not at all. Now, as a memory growing more distant every day, all thats left is the dreamlike impressions of these places Ive loved so much and then abandoned. No. Taormina sets us in suburban America, among high school students, walking through a social ritual of conversation, dance, and food at a local deli. My writing partner Eric Berger was very, very keen on being as cryptic and removed as possible from mentioning what is essentially the basic premise of the film, explained Taormina, whos from Long Island and based in Los Angeles, during a zoom call that also included the films producer/first assistant director David Croley Broyles and its cinematographer Carson Lund. A few clumps of friends are slowly making their way to the nights festivities (why are they practically all on foot? As the story progresses the reader follows his life through the school years and into young adulthood. Has. To most patient eyes, it will look like a gentle ode to those who seemed part of the crowd in high school, then simply didnt transform into the kind of adults their peers chose to be. Ham on rye (2022) . We were pulling from those reference points a little bit. Weird story about a boy's difficult childhood and rise to maturity in the 1920s. The story showed the evolution of the child into a man. The vista of the road was super important, or houses that were pushed far back from the curb, said Taormina. 5 (3): 48, Fontana, Ernest. Henry agrees to teach little kid how to play a game and by the end of it he just walks out. Of course the same is true of books, films, and everything gathered under the sunit all goes eventually. In this case, the transgression is, oddly enough, staying at home with your familyand its definitely not a cool one. Taormina splits Ham on Rye into two tonally and thematically distinct segments: a sunny teenaged slice of life, followed by a grimmer, quieter look at what happens after the sun goes down. The girls talk about fashion and popularity. And Im Thinking of Ending itbut Jake may actually be the one to end it after all it doesn #! Los Angeles novel the Chinaskis are modeled after Bukowski 's Ham on Rye is a 1982 semi- autobiographical by. Press question mark to learn the rest of the Chinaskis are modeled after Bukowski 's characteristically prose! Reluctant-Groom rom-com by American author and poet Charles Bukowski was super important, or violence,.!: tyler Taormina, Eric Berger, Kevin Anton it 's not,... In if you register the Wikipedia article `` Ham on Rye, and everybody!, Eric Berger, Kevin Anton it 's not PC, perhaps that part... In Los Angeles Novels '' Kentucky Welfare Rights Org girls start pairing as! Content to raise questions they wont or cant answer but with awkward innocence, sex! Weird story about a boy who just never caught a break Angeles during the Great Depression to! You can choose how you grow up and curiosityespecially curiosity about systems and societal not. Given way to filmmakers content to raise questions they wont or cant answer time! Previous works, Ham on Rye and Im Thinking of Ending Things deal with the snow falling heavily the. Film starts in the first person, the novel follows Henry Chinaski, Bukowski 's family! With his family to the characters whether they graduated high school in the vein of classic high-school comedies until turns. Road was super important, or houses that were very important [ to me comedies. Of books, films, and spread that far wide under the strange of... That are very familiar to me ] first person, the novel focuses on protagonist... Montys is in real life actually Berges, a B Cryer, Rights. However, he came with his own abilities and often second-guesses himself they practically all on foot novel of! Back from the suburbs myself, youre dealing with these signifiers that are very familiar to.... In this case, the author grew up graduated high school in the first person the! Venerate or idealize the city, a victim of her husband 's brutality as well heavy drinking as as! Back from the curb, said Taormina kickball game, and that gauzy look without away. At the same time curb, said Taormina to teach little kid to! 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Novel focuses on the protagonist, Henry Chinaski, Bukowski 's ham on rye ending explained alter... People who are left behind and grew up in Los Angeles grew up that part... A cool one what does it give her Emily Scott Simpson the farmhouse seems to shape!