Gun Hill Road – Queen of Sundance

Gun Hill Road - Crime and Punishment takes on a new twist.

Sundance Screens Ex Con Movie (Image courtesy of gunhillroad.com)

GUN HILL ROAD screams get on the bus and tackle our social challenges today.  The film, which premiered at Sundance on Monday, is a socially relevant, thought provoking film tackling the costs to society when a fatherless home forces the mother to go at it alone.  The father (played by Esai Morales known for his role in La Bamba) struggles with his Bronx street crime ways.

Original Painting by Alexandra Nechita

Shades of Faith by Alexandra Nechita (Courtesy of Denver's GALLERY M)

In the fine art world, sex plays out in countless interactions.  Identity and discovery are core to the social acceptance of an artist’s next work.    When painted or presented in a still – like Picasso transforming in his late teens from realism to “Taurus” deconstructions of cubism – we find value in the visual message.   It’s a solitary process either experienced from a book, a museum or a wall in your own home. The influences – or lack there of available to the teen (Michael/Vanessa) in Gun Hill Road dramatically demonstrate the confusion.

Films move us in theaters because we typically are not alone.  Gun Hill Road, like The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert or The Crying Game gives us outstanding performances that force us to ask – is our social fabric strong enough to accept a-typical personal challenges?

Cuban Protests in 1959

Cuban Protests in 1959 by Life Photographer Joe Scherschel.

This decade, similar to the Reagan years or those of Eisenhower, America has an economic challenge and political flux that must deal with teenage abandonment, estrangement and the classic challenges found in our high schools.  While Warhol was deliberate in his voice on consumerism and Basquiat with his graffiti, Gun Hill Road drives you to ask – how far will you go to accept your fellow man.

Relevant Art to This Film:

Bronze Sculpture by Loet Vanderveen

Noah's Ark by Loet Vanderveen

Author: Mason Hayutin

Founder, Editor and contributing writer, Mr. Mason Hayutin is recognized for his depth of experience and knowledge in technology, energy economics, real estate and the arts (fine and visual). Having worked with recognized world-class artists and their estates since 1997, Mason brings a wealth of practical experiences from installations, marketing, and private sales. An active business advocate, he successfully released the fine art documentary film LUBIE LOVE in 2009 ahead of the global auto crisis - in addition to maintaining his tenure at GALLERY M INC. Hayutin holds a degree in Economics from Washington University in St. Louis. He is the founder of MASONmodern, a boutique real estate firm based in Denver, CO. You can read his insight here at The Art Quarterly as well as in regional and national publications.

Share This Post On