AFI Dallas movie review and director interview: Tracing Cowboys

Ethan's heroes have always been cowboys - but maybe his true calling lies elsewhere.

by John P. Meyer

Let's be honest: Tracing Cowboys is not the sort of narrative feature that's going to appeal to everyone. It's a slow, sensuous, surreal and impressionist piece of filmmaking that's heavy on time-shifting and light on dialog; it develops its characters primarily through interaction rather than exposition. There are no car chases (unless you consider a car retracing the route of a motor home that passed by months previously to qualify as a chase) or gunfights.

What IS in store for the lover of offbeat, imaginative independent cinema is a decidedly original take on the classic road picture, in which the object of one's quest may end up being less important than the quest itself.

And then, of course, there's the tragic reality behind the film, which involves the death of screenwriter/lead actor Sacha Grunpeter shortly after the production's completion.

Ethan (Sacha Grunpeter) is a young man from Britain who's moved to America in an attempt to become a country and western singer. Ethan's heroes have always been cowboys - specifically the character portrayed by John Wayne in John Ford's iconic western, The Searchers. Ethan (whose name reflects that of Wayne's character in the movie) watches the film repeatedly and can quote the lines as they come up. By chance (?) he strikes up a romantic relationship with a beautiful but troubled young woman named Debbie (Megan Edwards) - the name of the character who is the object of Wayne's epic search in the classic film.

In a case of surface movie reality reflecting embedded movie reality, if you see what I'm getting at, Ethan (the one portrayed by Sacha) soon finds himself embarking on a search for his own Debbie, who has taken off without explanation on a road trip with no destination in mind; as she explains in the opening scene, she's getting away, rather than going somewhere. Of course, since her getaway route is taking her down the Baja Peninsula, she can only go so far...

Debbie, whose reason for leaving has much to do with communication difficulties she and Ethan have been experiencing, communicates from the road (after an extended delay) by forwarding photographs taken on her trip back to California. Ethan uses the clues embedded in Debbie's photographs to trace her route as he takes off after her.

Debbie ends up (as does Ethan, eventually) at a deserted seaside resort on the spectacularly sere Sea of Cortez, where she befriends the property's caretakers, Fernando (Alvaro Alvarez) and Alba (Ana Alvarez) - along with their little girl, Estrella (Veronica Fernandez). Fernando becomes a familiar and somewhat discomforting presence hovering around the periphery of Debbie's perception. He appears more and more frequently at her side, seeming to represent some ambiguous form of menace. He's not exactly physically threatening, but neither is he smiling and solicitous.

The cinematography (by David Rush Morrison) is beautiful and laden with magic hour light, and the narrative is accompanied by an appropriately dreamy ambient score by Richard Dowlearn.

BUT FROM WHAT?: "Why do you come here?" - Fernando to Debbie

"To get away." - Debbie's reply

BUT WHAT WILL HE FIND?: "My cowboy was comin' to find me - just like John Wayne." - Debbie, narrating

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On Sunday (March 30) I welcomed director Jason Wulfsohn into the offices of Pegasus News where we sat down for a chat about the movie. Accompanying Jason were Sacha Grunpeter's brother, Scott, and his charming parents who were over from England to attend the festival and the premiere screening of their son's feature film project.

As Jason notes towards the end of our extended conversation, Sacha's presence remains a strong influence on all who knew and worked with him.