Gwyneth Richards Czura
In his brilliant debut movie The Center, director and writer Charlie Griak has produced a film that manages to be both innovative and old-fashioned at the same time. A psychological thriller, it is innovative in both its delivery and its subject matter. Its delivery is achieved through tight editing, spare but solid acting, and a fascinating musical score reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock. Jonathan Demme, perhaps best known for producing Silence of the Lambs, is executive producer of The Center, and his influence is definitely felt. The score is almost a character unto itself. The music sets the tone for every moment of the plot without overshadowing it. Thanks to the seamless score, moody lighting and believable acting, the suspense is palpable, and the story entertains and flows smoothly without any of the modern Hollywood bloodshed or violence. In this respect, it is comparable to this year's The Gift, written and directed by Joel Edgerton, another low- budget, non-violent thriller that kept audiences glued to the edge of their seat. Both films are creative and masterful, and both leave the viewer thinking for many days afterward.The Center's subject matter has to do with the cult indoctrination process, and it is an accurate and timely portrayal of how prevalent cults are in today's world. The traditional view holds that people who join cults are social deviants who shave their heads and preach the gospel of Hare Krishna in airports, or else they are mentally ill or drug addicts who become disciples of psychopaths like Charles Manson or Jim Jones. Normal people like Griak's protagonist Ryan don't join cults, do they? How could any halfway-intelligent person be susceptible to brainwashing? The answer is: Yes they do. It happens all the time. If you are reading this, there is a strong chance that you or someone you know is or has been involved in a cult, perhaps without even being aware of it. The Center takes the viewer on the journey of a young man's indoctrination into, and ultimate escape from, a cult. The chilling musical score plays as if horrific murders are about to take place. And, in fact, they do. But these are not murders of physical bodies. Instead, we watch the murder of human souls, a crime that is committed in the invisible world of the victim's mind.Ryan, a gifted aspiring writer stuck in a mind-numbing job and unsupportive family environment, is the perfect prospect for cult recruitment. Spiritual predators like The Center's leader, Vincent, target people who are at a low point in their lives. When Ryan answers in the group's initial recruitment questionnaire that he feels disconnected all of the time, he unwittingly sets himself up to be victimized. The film takes us through every step of Ryan's brainwashing process and his ultimate liberation. Ryan's indoctrination process is eerily authentic. A lonely man with no love life or social life, he is easily drawn in by a pretty girl handing out fliers. Then his bruised self- esteem is stoked when The Center's recruiters praise him for his intelligence, as they inform him that his responses to the questionnaire show him to be exceptionally intelligent and unique. Then the love-bombing begins, as he is constantly praised and hugged. During The Center's weekend training program, his senses are assaulted. His logic is questioned, he is deprived of sleep, and he is encouraged to express his emotions by yelling and screaming. He is blindfolded and forced to rely upon his peers for support, and then he is humiliated in front of the group for not being authentic, because he was withholding his most private and deeply-held thoughts and emotions. And always, always, always, he is expected to pay more and more money, on top of working for free for the group. One of the most effective themes in the movie is the sight of the cult members smoking cigarettes. They all smoke, and Ryan, a former non-smoker, eventually takes up smoking under encouragement from the group. This in itself shows the viewers something the cult's participants cannot see for themselves: the longer they stay in the group, the worse their health gets.Ryan is encouraged to stay away from his family, because they don't approve of his involvement with The Center. In one memorable scene, Ryan has a phone conversation with his sister under close monitoring from a cult peer, who tells his sister that Ryan is thinking for himself for the first time in years. The reality is that Ryan has handed over his thought process to Vincent and is in worse shape mentally than before he joined the group.The style of the movie and its subject matter call George Orwell's 1984 to mind. An excerpt from that book states, "You will be hollow. We will squeeze you empty and then we shall fill you with ourselves…Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing."A turning point comes in the film when Ryan realizes that Vincent is a psychopathic thug, and Ryan breaks free. He is one of the lucky ones. One of his peers in the group, who feels helpless to leave, tells Ryan, "The funny thing about believing in something—you do a lot of things you don't believe in at all."Mind control is real, and it is pervasive in our society. The mind exists in the brain and in hormones and enzymes that travel through our body and affect our senses. It is through the senses that we know about the world. When our senses are severely assaulted, we can neither think nor see ourselves. The Center lets us experience a rational man's nightmarish journey into hell and ultimately finding redemption. If you are looking for an intelligent, thought-provoking film, don't miss The Center.
Ryan J. Gilmer
I don't know if you will like the film "The Center".It is very polarizing.What I do know though is that it is great to look at, it has great production value, and I really don't believe there is a wasted shot in the film.Directed by Charlie Griak and produced by Judd and Annie Einan, the center is pretty simple to explain but harder to fully describe.(I guess in the loosest sense there is a spoiler, but it is by the loosest definition only, as a plot summary is given in the next sentence or two.)The simple explanation is that a simple man named Ryan (Matt Cici) with family and work issues gets recruited into a cult like group. His world changes for better and worse and eventually there is a resolution.What is harder to describe is the immersion into this world. A world based in the reality of the city and Ryan's life and interaction with others, but centered in a place 97 minutes away. Ryan's city life is pretty fleshed out. The lighting, framing, and editing make Minneapolis (St. Paul in reality) a real character in the film and performances by Amanda Day, Dan Carroll, Ramon Pabon, and Annie Einan fully sell Matt Cici (aka Ryan's) situation.The scenes at "The Center" have equally great performances by Roger Wayne, H Thomas Altman, Judd Einan and others and the shots of the group members showcase a plethora of Minnesota talent without pandering to the "must show extras" mentality. Joel Thingvall is great with a story, ... Mark Scanlan shows a great face, ... Kelly Barry-Miller has a nice scream etc.... none of the shots seem gratuitously unnecessary and serve the purpose of the film, which is to showcase the cult like mentality of the leadership.The film itself has been traveling the festival circuit and showed as part of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Film Festival at the Saint Anthony Main Theatre on both 4/22/15 and on Friday 24th of April, 2015 at 10PM with director Q/A. Both shows were sellouts. It also had a third screening during the best of fest and was 80 percent full on a week night. The film has a lot of scenes on the cutting room floor as director Charlie Griak also edited and was ruthless. True he was supervised by Jonathan Demme, but to cut nearly an hour worth of material and to still have a streamlined story is genius. He effectively trimmed all of the fat and while some of the scenes excised from the film are great in themselves the overall story wasn't served by them as best it should have been.(this is gathered by both talking to him and to some of the cast).Upon first viewing I had a nagging suspicion that within the 72 minute runtime perhaps some of the story at the Center was shortchanged. However, if you watch the film and focus on that aspect of the story it really isn't, which shows just how good the editing was.Hopefully you will get to view the movie. Perhaps it will still be called "The Center" then or perhaps it will go by its alternate name.... which while filming it was constantly stated that the title would be changed.Since "The Center" serves as both the title and a character there is no further need for change...... read into that as much as you like.So I could blindly tell you to go see it and to rate the film a 10, but I'll let you decide like the Ryan in the film did.Maybe you will see something that you like, or maybe you wont, but I'll be under the Skyway walking by as you decide what do do with your 97 minutes on any given night.
Gordon Helle
In recent years, the popularity of a movie has been based more on the number of explosions, car chases, and other fun, flashy things than its grip on reality. Now, don't get me wrong. I love seeing a world eating robot blow up as much as the next person, but it is nice to have the director trust that I have a little more depth than that (albiet not likely much). With this in mind, it was refreshing to be able to sit down to The Center and see a real person living in the real world facing real challenges. The directorial debut of Charlie Griak presents the haunting tale of Ryan (a truly believable Matt Cici) who really just wants to be able to connect with the people in his life and find meaning/fulfillment. This journey leads him down the road of self-discovery, aided in large part by The Center, a self-help group with some unorthodox techniques. The Center plays a major part in Ryan's journey of discovery, but ultimately, he is his own agent, following an authentic path to finding his true self.Charlie Griak's ability to tell a story weaving in visual, audio, and thematic motifs is incredible. His message is clear, without being forced upon the audience. The grit of the characters truly shines, as does the fantastic score by Alex Berglund. Since nothing blows up, there is instead a sense of beauty and wonder throughout. If you want to leave a movie with a deeper understanding of humanity and yourself, this is one you should really check out.
