Ballast [Blu-ray]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

The static living arrangement between three lonely souls living in a rural Mississippi Delta township is suddenly shaken up due to a tragic suicide in this intimate family drama from first-time writer/director Lance Hammer. Single mother Marley was barely getting by when her 12-year-old son James fell into a dangerous cycle of drugs and violence. Desperate to escape her current surroundings and save her son from becoming another statistic, Marley seeks safe harbor at a home on the property of Lawrence -- a man with whom she has been locked into a bitter feud ever since the birth of her son. Brought together by circumstance and left with little choice but to work through their hardships, Marley, James, and Lawrence do their best to move beyond the grief that has befallen them, and transform tragedy into the foundation for a new and hopeful future. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: A
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Cinemascope)
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV, Color
• Subtitle: French, English, Spanish
• Features:
  • Director supervised high-definition digital transfer from the 35mm interpositive
  • Ballast Scene Development, a 37-minute making-of feature charting the evolution of several scenes through the improvisational sessions and two-month rehearsal process that gave form to the final film
  • Original theatrical trailer

AWARDS

• Berlin International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

• Chicago Film Critics Association

•     Nominated Most Promising Filmmaker - 2008 (Lance Hammer)

• Independent Spirit Awards

•     Nominated Best Actress - 2008 (Tarra Riggs)
•     Nominated Best Cinematography - 2008 (Lol Crawley)
•     Nominated Best Director - 2008 (Lance Hammer)
•     Nominated Best First Screenplay - 2008 (Lance Hammer)
•     Nominated Best Picture - 2008 (Lance Hammer, Nina Parikh)
•     Nominated Best Supporting Actor - 2008 (Jim Myron Ross)

• Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

• London Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

• Los Angeles Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

• Melbourne International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

• New Directors/New Films

•     Film Presented - 2008

• San Francisco International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

• Seattle International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

• Sundance Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

• Toronto Film Critics Association

•     Won Best First Feature - 2008 (Lance Hammer)

• Women Film Critics Circle

•     Won Josephine Baker Award - 2008

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Michael J. Smith, Sr. - Lawrence
       Jim Myron Ross - James
       Tarra Riggs - Marlee
       Johnny McPhail
       Ventress Bonner

• Director:

  Lance Hammer

• Producer:

  Lance Hammer, Nina Parikh

• Screenwriter:

  Lance Hammer

• Cinematographer:

  Lol Crawley

• Editor:

  Lance Hammer

• Production Designer:

  Mary Goodson, Jerel Levanway

REVIEW:

• Lance Hammer's debut feature, Ballast, has a storyline -- it has narrative momentum, and pacing (exquisite pacing, in fact), and all of the other requirements that a dramatic film should possess. And Hammer has handled these elements of his film with the delicacy of an accomplished filmmaker. But where Ballast succeeds on a level that shoots right off the charts is in matters of tone -- visual tone, to be sure, but also in the larger ambient sense. Using a cast of non-professional actors who give performances that you probably couldn't buy for a million dollars per performer from professionals, Hammer and his camera capture an essence of the setting that attracted him, the barren, beautiful heart of the Mississippi Delta. The mix of long, languid exteriors, the close intimate drama of the four principal players (five if you count the wonderful but unobtrusive canine Juneau), and the natural sound throughout end up yielding the visual equivalent of a Debussy or Delius orchestral tone poem, or a Turner landscape painting -- except that this movie does tell a story that moves forward at precisely the right pace, with finely nuanced performances from all concerned. Indeed, this is the kind of movie for which one would not only wish eventually to own a DVD edition, but also a photo book of stills, of actual shots and settings. And one must interrupt the well-deserved praise for Hammer and his crew to add that the movie is worth seeing for the work of Jim Myron Ross, Tarra Riggs, Johnny McPhail, and especially Michael J. Smith Sr. as Lawrence, the survivor of a family tragedy. Professional actors work for years to achieve what they all do in this movie, and audiences should treat themselves to their work, as well, on top of that of Hammer's vision and accomplishment. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

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