Synopsis
Fearing the apocalypse, an insurance salesman sets off into the woods on a solo hunting experiment.
Directed by Robert Machoian
Fearing the apocalypse, an insurance salesman sets off into the woods on a solo hunting experiment.
Sumienie Josepha Chambersa, La integridad de Joseph Chambers, Bezúhonnost Josepha Chamberse, A Integridade de Joseph Chambers, Смертельная охота, Joseph Chambers becsülete, 约瑟夫·钱伯斯的品格, 約瑟夫·錢伯斯的正直, La integritat de Joseph Chambers
Tribeca Film Fest 2022
Joseph Chambers sets out into the woods to go hunting for the first time dead set on proving his manliness. It is obvious from the outset that this isn’t going to go well. Joseph (Clayne Crawford) clearly has no business handling the gun he’s borrowed let alone the manly truck he’s borrowed, but Chambers’ little manhood walkabout will definitely test his mettle—just not in the way he was expecting. An interesting sort of rumination on masculinity. Worth checking out. Could have used more Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Jordana Brewster (and her bare ass).
Degrees of Kevin Bacon: 2
1. Jordana Brewster and Michael Rooker in F9
2. Michael Rooker and Kevin Bacon in J.F.K.
🎵 "I am the mustache man. King of the mountain, here I stand"🎵
Based on the premise & the title of The Integrity of Joseph Chambers alone, I had an idea where this might go. & Then the movie started, & I strongly identified with Joseph...like if I was a dude, I'd be a lot like Joseph. Then the score started up, & I sank right into the film.
It helps to know I'm a fan of writer / director Robert Machoian's The Killing of Two Lovers. Big fan. He makes reality interesting & dreadful, & though I too often forget, reality is interesting & dreadful. I figured him a talented storyteller based on his previous work, but still minimized expectations to the title, synopsis, & filmmaker.
But…
Watched at NBFF '22
Conceptually promising, but unfortunately failed to stick the landing on multiple occasions. The film felt uneven at times and unnatural in its depiction of its natural setting. The sound design was particularly awkward (and at times excessive) throughout, which added to the feelings of inauthenticity in its presentation of a natural surrounding, and of the unevenness exhibited throughout the film.
The concept behind this film at the very least peaks some interest, but ultimately it doesn’t have much to say. It would have been better served being presented as a tightly structured short film, rather than a feature. I am curious what such a film would have looked like though, had it’s story and concepts been approached by a writer/director who would have embraced a more character-driven, even quirky interpretation of the film’s subject matter and protagonist — perhaps incorporating dark comedy. My biggest curiosity: Yorgos Lanthimos’s take on The Integrity of Joseph Chambers.
Atmospheric; cold; dark; effective; humorous; short; simple; tense; thought-provoking; unhurried; well-acted; well-crafted; well-scored.
The second feature by Robert Machoian, with returning collaborators Clayne Crawford (lead role), Oscar Ignacio Jimenez (DP), and others including the incredible sound team from their first project, The Killing of Two Lovers (my favorite film of 2020).
In many ways, this film is a much simpler movie than TKOTL. A man ventures into the woods to hunt for the first time. He says it's because he needs to teach himself how to survive in a world that's on the decline (it's presumed to take place in a modern 2022 era, but this could be spoken to any point in history, especially American history, where people think the world is entering an inescapable dark time). But what's really unfolding, is…
Robert Machoian’s follow up to ‘The Killing of Two Lovers’ is an interesting film with a great lead performance from Clayne Crawford. A man desperate to prove his worth goes out on a solo hunting expedition in the forests. Trouble is, he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
It’s a comment on self doubt, masculinity, patriarchal structures and eagerness to fit in to a community / family as an outsider. The film has a lot of subtext, which is difficult not to spoil but it evoked memories of ‘Take Shelter’ in it’s existential tone. Well worth seeing and also has some great eerie sound design.
even more sparse and bleak than The Killing of Two Lovers, with both films feeling like a bonded pair of defiantly American survivalist tales, punctuated by bursts of violence and featuring leads with respectable facial hair; thoroughly my kind of thing but also exhausting so ymmv
Robert Machoian’s THE INTEGRITY OF JOSEPH CHAMBERS is just as grippingly intense as THE KILLING OF TWO LOVERS & re-affirms he’s a filmmaker of tremendous talent. Clayne Crawford’s hauntingly naked performance is powerful & unforgettable while the intricate sound design rattles your nerves. Carefully composed to draw out as much dread as humanly possible.
So this dude goes out in the woods and it’s clear that he probably shouldn’t be going wandering around with a gun by himself and of course something terrible happens … leading up to that though is a lot of wandering around in the woods not much is happening, which is kind of laborious to watch and then even once the stuff happens it’s mostly meh.. nothing too groundbreaking here.. very simple too simple
Men will literally grow out their mustaches and go hunting instead of go to therapy
“I’m the Moustache Man / King of the mountain here I stand”
Insurance salesman with wife and two children grows a walrus moustache, borrows a high powered rifle and goes off into the woods hunting to be self reliant, like A Man.
Friends often say to me, “Doctor Doughnut, you’re clearly an alpha male, has that always come naturally to you?” “I guess” I rumble in my deep gravely voice while staring them straight in the eye. But Joe here feels he has to prove something to himself and his wife & her relatives who come from a more rural background.
Horribly funny in very dark sense, until it’s not. Joe is a fish out of water - clumsy and quite…