Ryan Samul on Cold In July

[Miguel Angel]

Hi!

 

I went to the movies last Saturday to watch Cold In July and I came home absolutely mesmerised and amazed by Ryan Samul's work on this feature so I said: Why don't write a bit about it!

 

Trailer

 

Director

Jim Mickle

 

Cinematographer

Ryan Samul

www.ryansamul.com

 

Actors

Sam Shepard, Michal C. Hall, Don Johnson.

 

Cold In July is set in Texas back in the final 80's (1989 to be more accurate) and it shows a normal man in a normal village who has to make a decision in about 2 seconds and how that decision will change the course of his life forever.

 

Well, I did not know anything about this movie before entering the cinema, and what I saw was a masterpiece, Ryan Samul's cinematography is so well done that it should be one of the Oscar's contenders as it is a very good example of how to use cinematography to help the narrative of a project.

 

There are three very different parts in the movie, all of them with a different tone and ambience but very real when put together.

Although the story is very simple, the use of light, colours and frames to emphasise feelings, emotions, actions and consequences is really well done, the best movie in that field I have seen this year so far.

 

It is very clear that both, the director and the cinematographer thought about the viewers when deciding about what kind of style they wanted for the movie, it is true that it has that gritty look that it needed but also it has very interesting stylistic choices and shoots.

 

Probably it is not in cinemas in the States anymore but if you are in Europe, get to the cinema and watch it as soon as you can!

 

Best!

 

[Michael LaVoie]

After watching the trailer I checked out the wikipedia page. Commercially it didn't do so well but it did not get a wide theatrical at all over here. Looks like the film was good enough but just weird enough to divide critics and audiences. Sometimes the tone, if it's slightly off, as in a Coen Brothers film, will put the film in that fringe/art house category in the states. Looks like that's what happened here. But if the script was good enough to pull Sam Shephard out of retirement, well, I'm interested.

 

I'd never heard of it till your post but it definitely looks worthy of checking out and I'd agree that the cinematography looks perfectly suited to the material.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Michael LaVoie

[Stuart Brereton]

I saw it in LA a while back. Great looking movie, but I really didn't like the sudden change in direction and character emphasis. It felt like two different movies stitched together.

[Miguel Angel]

Michael

It is interesting that you say that it might have fallen into the art / fringe category because it looks like a movie from the late 70's / 80's (that sound!!) and it has a bit of art in it too.

 

Talking about the movie with some friends they told me that it looked like a Carpenter movie because of the tone and the slow narrative that influences the whole film.

I don't see that point very clear but it reminds me of the latest Friedkin movies, music, sound, photography, acting, script, etc.

 

Stuart

That change you were talking about is one of the most interesting things of the movie under my point of view.

It goes from A to B and then when you expect that something is going to happen, the movie changes its tone completely and you see a new world there.

And it is what adds value to the movie, because nowadays nobody would have gone back to the house in that way (who else could have filmed that with that pulse nowadays?) or would have changed the script totally.

 

And although the movie has the three acts very partitioned and you can see the changes, I really think is impressive how well narrated they are.

 

Best!