Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America (Severin Films Blu-Ray Review)

Is Family Portrait: A Trilogy of America Treasure or Treasure

DVD Distributed By Severin / January 26, 2021

Over the course of seven years, three short films about the brutal dissolution of the American family – Cutting Moments (1997), Home (1998) and Prologue (2003) – elicited both horrified gasps and standing ovations at film festivals around the world. When combined into a theatrical feature, this trilogy by writer/producer/director/editor Douglas Buck – whose directing credits would eventually include the SISTERS remake and ‘The Accident’ segment of THE THEATRE BIZARRE – was hailed as “nightmarish” (The New York Times), “like Todd Solondz on crack” (Digitally Obsessed) and “the most chilling portrait of the loss of humanity in the manicured lawns of Middle America ever made” (LA Weekly). Buck’s “unbearably intense and enormously moving” (Filmecho) stunner is now scanned in 2k from the original negative for the first time ever with all-new Special Features.

Tyler’s Take (4.5 / 5)

If you’re looking for a snapshot into the darkest underbelly of the American family, then this is definitely the movie for you. The symbolism and metaphorical undertones and overtones of the kind of family issues no one talks about at dinner are slathered all over these three short films. Buckle up because this ride does not stop for the faint of heart.

The first of these, Cutting Moments, is by far the grisliest, with the wife and husband both ending up mutilating each other for sexual gratification in an otherwise loveless, empty marriage. The actors are all exceptional in their ability to communicate the despair and hopelessness of their household resembling any kind of “normal” family. There is almost no dialogue, other than a brilliantly shot and acted dinner scene that epitomizes those family moments that are purely for show, with no real intent or purpose. With each scene, the “cutting” gets more and more sinister, beginning with the father cutting hedges, and then food, and eventually to the wife cutting off her own lips after using a Brillo pad to tear her own mouth apart. The special effects are spot on, and her portrayal of a woman desperate to put any spark or love back in her marriage is equally astonishing. The husband similarly reacts expertly upon seeing her mutilated face, and her body dripping with blood. The final bedroom scene between them takes the disfigurement to places I cannot even repeat in this review, but it’s exactly what you think it is.

The second vignette, titled Home, is less bizarre than Cutting Moments, but possibly more relatable to the average American family. This one is from the viewpoint of a father named Gary who flashes back to his own upbringing, which is chock full of dysfunction—an abusive father and a mentally broken mother. The film follows Gary’s journey towards a self-fulfilling prophecy that he will end up just like dad. Complete with his own father breaking his favorite instrument as a kid and Gary walking in on his dad verbally and sexually abusing and dominating his mom, this is a type of family dynamic that will connect with all too many people. There is a specifically chilling moment during a breakfast scene that takes the viewer by surprise, but I won’t divulge the outcome here. Let’s just say if Cutting Moments was 10.0 on the gore-o-meter, the ending of this one is somewhere around a 7.5. Gary’s final lines capture the essence of this one perfectly: “I felt victorious. I had finally found my way home. What did I do that was wrong?” If you want to know what he did, you’ll have to watch.

Finally, there’s Prologue. This one appears to be the director’s focus, as it was by far the longest and had the largest cast. While far less grisly than the other two, it was all about another topic familiar to every family: secrets. As was typical in this trilogy, the secrets disclosed in these families are of the extreme variety, but center on a terrible sexual assault of a young girl, who also has both hands cut off during the attack. It’s very well-acted, especially the actors that portray Benjamin and Evelyn, an elderly couple keeping the major secret. The problem is that the husband is keeping something even more sinister, which only comes to light at the end. It all takes place in a small town, and it feels like all the characters are stuck in a kind of purgatory with no hope of escaping. The last two scenes are especially powerful, providing closure in one moment and then offering a lasting reminder of the plight of everyone involved, which is masterfully captured in one shot.

The extras are also highly recommended viewing. There’s a never-before-released short called After All, and interviews with a couple cast members from Cutting Moments, including director Douglas Buck. His interview in particular is worth the purchase alone, as he recounts the inception of the concept behind the films and talks about the difficulty of convincing parents of child actors to audition for a film as dark as this one. He also divulges an unexpected nugget that I didn’t realize—the actress who plays the wife in Cutting Moments is the daughter of Nicholas Ray, who directed Rebel Without a Cause.

There’s the typical behind-the scenes stuff and galleries, including a deleted scene from Prologue. While this is often nothing to rave about, what I like about this deleted scene is that it is accompanied by the director’s explanation as to why that scene was cut.

Overall, I highly recommend Family Portraits. The transfer to Blu-Ray is as good as you could expect, and the extras are a gem for any aspiring filmmaker. Each short stands on its own with a different message and different perspective, but they all tie around a common theme that families are never what they seem. If that sounds like something you can relate to, or if you just want to see some gruesome shit, this is definitely the movie for you.