Harry Shum Jr.'s cryptic introverted performance pretty much drives this entire film, which is something of a miracle because the plot structure is akin to a Russian Doll puzzle designed by a psychopath. If Shum weren't so completely immersed in this part, it would be a tough sell --- it's an impressive piece of understated acting, and his character's obsession insinuates itself into your subconsciousness throughout much of the picture. He might actually do too good a job here.
Shum plays James, a video and photography geek who's so self-immersed, he can't even tell you what his hobbies are. In truth, he has none, and his "job" is nothing short of what a room full of video duplicating equipment could do, even in 1999, in which this film is set. That should provide some clues that something isn't "quite right".
I recently learned about the unsolved WGN Max Headroom hijackings in the late '80s prior to watching "Broadcast Signal Interference". That helped pique my interest, but I also thought the Kabuki-like nightmarish images and sequences that James is pursuing (supposed broadcast hijacks), were creepy and effective. The fact that the images are cribbed from a supposed pat schlock sitcom about an android wife is also sneakily subversive and another neon sign-post about James' relationship with his wife, who disappeared three years earlier.
There are plenty of articles out there that explain this film in detail, but I'll be honest with you --- I didn't put it together, yet I still kind of liked it, even after the surreal last quarter. Director Jacob Gentry does a fine job with his cast of minor characters, none of which are throwaways.
I only wish the film's script gave us more of a backstory to Shum's character that might have made what Gentry was going for more accessible. I had suspicions throughout the film of what was really happening, but never enough confirmation to convince me. It would have made this film even more suspenseful and powerful. It's not like "Jacob's Ladder" for instance (Adrian Lyne's original of course) which made a more effective visual split between the real and the imagined.
But it did engage me, and it's really "out there" in a genre of thrillers that for the most part has been done to death, like a marathon of CSI reruns. I just can't penalize a film for being "smarter" than I am.
Shum plays James, a video and photography geek who's so self-immersed, he can't even tell you what his hobbies are. In truth, he has none, and his "job" is nothing short of what a room full of video duplicating equipment could do, even in 1999, in which this film is set. That should provide some clues that something isn't "quite right".
I recently learned about the unsolved WGN Max Headroom hijackings in the late '80s prior to watching "Broadcast Signal Interference". That helped pique my interest, but I also thought the Kabuki-like nightmarish images and sequences that James is pursuing (supposed broadcast hijacks), were creepy and effective. The fact that the images are cribbed from a supposed pat schlock sitcom about an android wife is also sneakily subversive and another neon sign-post about James' relationship with his wife, who disappeared three years earlier.
There are plenty of articles out there that explain this film in detail, but I'll be honest with you --- I didn't put it together, yet I still kind of liked it, even after the surreal last quarter. Director Jacob Gentry does a fine job with his cast of minor characters, none of which are throwaways.
I only wish the film's script gave us more of a backstory to Shum's character that might have made what Gentry was going for more accessible. I had suspicions throughout the film of what was really happening, but never enough confirmation to convince me. It would have made this film even more suspenseful and powerful. It's not like "Jacob's Ladder" for instance (Adrian Lyne's original of course) which made a more effective visual split between the real and the imagined.
But it did engage me, and it's really "out there" in a genre of thrillers that for the most part has been done to death, like a marathon of CSI reruns. I just can't penalize a film for being "smarter" than I am.