SLIFF 2010 Review: IMBUED

im·bue (m-by) tr.v.
1. To inspire or influence thoroughly

From the moment Stacy Keach walks through the door, IMBUED had me strangely curious. Donatello (Keach) is a sports bookie of questionable legitimacy, as is illustrated by his arrival in the high rise space, cluttered with large abstract paintings, ladders and an unmade mattress. Donatello is a complicated man, wrought with acrophobia, but he’s good at what he does.

A knock at Donatello’s door reveals Lydia (Liza Sklar), an attractive young call girl who believes she is meeting a man named Brent, but finds Donatello instead. Lydia is invited inside, which begins a slowly unraveling and often awkward intimacy between the two, whom have their own deeply withheld feelings they will ultimately pull from each other.

IMBUED was written and directed by Rob Nilsson, a veteran of indie filmmaking with an impressive resume of award-winning films. This film takes two very opposite characters and puts them in a room together, where they expose themselves for who they really are, revelations that prove more surprising to themselves than each other.

Lydia knocking on the wrong door leads to Donatello making an unexpected gesture of kindness. Lydia mistakenly misreads this gesture, triggering an inquiry into his motives. Donatello is closed off, unwillingly to submit to Lydia’s attempt to seduce him, while also willingly engaged in a cat-and-mouse conversation about what they want from each other.

IMBUED is one part psychological exploration and one part intellectual foreplay. The dialogue maintains an improvised authenticity, only occasionally feeling forced, but the actors’ body language is often more telling than their words. Both characters are professionals in taboo, but are inherently good people beneath the surface of their immoral exteriors.

This is a raw cinematic project. Simplicity is the key, with a single locations, primarily two characters and a simple approach to a complex story. Donatello and Lydia spend one long night together, challenging each others’ comfort zone. IMBUED in turn challenges the audience with intelligent, dialogue-driven atypical filmmaking.

IMBUED will play during the 19th Annual Stella Artois St. Louis International Film Festival on Friday, November 12th at 7:15 pm at the Tivoli Theatre.