‘Dandelion’: SXSW Review

Dir: Nicole Riegel. US. 2024. 113mins

Melodically meditative and lyrically luxurious, author/director Nicole Riegel’s Dandelion is a handsomely-mounted character examine a couple of Black musician discovering her voice. If that feels like mere boilerplate, the unguarded authenticity of this movie shifts its easy story away from any banality in the direction of being a revealing narrative which celebrates the artistic spirit and ponders the invisibility of Blackness.

A visually lovely, delicately composed movie

KiKi Layne is the forlorn titular singer/songwriter who takes off from her hometown of Cincinnati to a battle of folkish bands in South Dakota, discovering potential romance with one other acoustic participant. It’s a quietly rendered mixture of John Carney’s As soon as and Ethan Hawke’s Blaze, set to a commanding soundtrack of authentic songs that make for a soul-stirring image.       

Premiering within the 24 Beats Per Sound part of SXSW, a vertical reserved for the musical part of this hybrid pageant, Dandelion is an IFC Movies manufacturing by a filmmaker whose earlier movie, Holler, netted her a Spirit Award nomination for Finest First Characteristic. That pedigree means that Riegel’s newest effort will not less than win hearts amongst arthouse devotees, whereas the presence of an electrifying Layne might grant it a shot at a wider viewers.

As as singer, Dandelion is much extra proficient than her lounge act gig would have you ever imagine. Each different day she steps on stage to play authentic songs as onlookers stick with it loud conversations; it’s a weak, debilitating job, singing out into the void — however with a sick mom at residence, she wants the cash. A bartender good friend tells Dandelion a couple of competitors at a biker rally, which awards winners the possibility to open for a significant nation act.

The rocky set-up – the weakest a part of this strong movie – witnesses Dandelion partaking in a tempestuous argument along with her incredulous mom. It’s a cliche-ridden shouting match whose depth initially feels unearned, solely there to set Dandelion on the highway searching for stardom. However what she finds is a lot extra attention-grabbing: Amid redneck bikers and drunken hecklers wandering round a raucous plains city, she discovers a thriving musical group the place a dashing Casey (Thomas Doherty) resides. 

It’s on the brushed, blissful prairie terrain the place Dandelion finds its footing: Casey takes Dandelion beneath his wing, and the pair start writing and crooning love songs to – and with – one another. Windswept hikes throughout rugged plateaus soaked by ethereal sunbeams, dashes by limitless fields of grain and love making within the woods turn out to be the unforgettable notes on their ledger. Layne and Doherty (a Display Star of Tomorrow in 2021) possess immeasurable chemistry, given higher efficiency by Riegel and her DoP Lauren Guiteras’ love of blending lenses for arrestingly intimate compositions, and shutting in on the faces of their simmering stars. 

Regardless of the power of this burgeoning romance, there are cracks. A few of these fissures seem within the agile scripting: we get the impression that not solely does some unhealthy blood exist between Casey and the opposite musicians, however in addition they share a diametrically reverse artistic ethos. They play for the love of the craft, however Casey sees no level if the work won’t ever result in stardom.

The catchy indie folks ballads composed by Aaron and Bryce Dessner (of band The Nationwide) present additional clues to how Casey is making an attempt to outline Dandelion’s voice earlier than she even has one. The haunting want brimming from the righteous composition ’Over-The-Rhine’ – a tune that’s not impressed by a burst of inspiration however painstakingly crafted – is emblematic of her deepest needs to be a complete, self-defined particular person.These tensions restrain Riegel’s movie from turning into a rehash of As soon as, permitting it area to philosophise on the significance of music. In that regard Riegel is following the footsteps of the offbeat biopic Blaze, a movie equally involved with the tough dedication required for songwriting and artistry informed by the lens of a romance doomed by the rising pains of discovering one’s voice. 

Dandelion can also be a visually lovely, delicately composed movie. Makes use of of double publicity, intricate tracks down lengthy and winding roads, and Riegel’s impeccable tactility — a really feel she honed along with her gritty blue-collar Appalachian drama Holler — renders the panorama with the sort of class Andrea Arnold filmed the South with in American Honey.

Layne is equally arresting as a Black lady who usually isn’t seen by audiences in a approach that remembers Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, the place Blackness by its undesirability is rendered invisible by many. This turns into a strong by line for a personality looking for inventive recognition. Buoyed by the movie’s eager soundtrack, Layne provides her finest efficiency since If Beale Avenue Might Speak, culminating with a rollicking bluesy smash that’s as electrifyingly vibrant because the movie is achingly mushy.