Police Beat is a fascinating film experience, one I've returned to several times - six, I think, at last count, and I'm not yet tired of championing it; I'm delighted it's coming out on DVD tomorrow. Screenwriter Charles Mudede is neither a conservative nor a Muslim, and he's not particularly alienated from Seattle society - as his main character Z, the immigrant bicycle cop pictured above, is - but he does cover crime for Seattle's The Stranger, and he manages to capture the feeling of being an outsider, confused and without bearings, marvelously; I found myself identifying with poor Z's predicament more than I ever would have expected from reading about the film, and find new things to think about with each viewing.
Of course, Mudede and Robinson Devor's subsequent collaboration, Zoo, about the Enumclaw horsefucking case, is getting all the press right now. Should you have missed it, Mudede's initial article about the episode, during which a Boeing aerospace engineer was fatally injured while being sodomized by a horse, is here; while not being disrespectful, it is quite funny, in a very dark, restrained, quizzical way. The film, while far less likely to provoke laughter, is indeed daring and noteworthy, and far more tasteful and restrained than one would expect (Gary Indiana has no idea what he's talking about). It's worth your checking out when it makes it to the Vancity Theatre later this month. Truth be known, though I liked it, I have to say that it's got nothing on Police Beat; it's creepy, beautifully shot, and quite compelling, but Police Beat is where the real meal lies... Trailer and such here - I don't really have the energy to write about it right now, but I keep tellin' everyone it was my favourite American film of 2004-2005. Trust me...
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