Review of Co/Ma

Introduction

Here`s the scoop. Esteemed British director Mike Figgis (`Leaving Las Vegas`) holds a seven day workshop for a selection of young European directors, actors, editors and writers in, of all places, Slovenia. Tasked with making a feature film on a tight budget by working as a team - with the resulting product to be screened for the public - `Co/Ma` is a documentary that follows the process... or is it?

Video

Full-frame 4:3 although it occasionally switches to letterboxed 1.85:1, with a slight fuzziness around the edges and a fair bit of grain.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0, straight out of tin marked `standard stereo mix`.

Features

Hidden away in the `set up` options (and actually missed first time around by this reviewer) is a very dry Mike Figgis commentary in which, unsurprisingly, he waffles on about the making of the film, and what a bold project it was.

Other than that, a few trailers for other indie releases from Lionsgate run their course before the feature kicks off.

Conclusion

1999 called and wants its Blair Witch back!

`Co/Ma` starts off promising enough, with the score of wannabe film-makers sitting around a table, smashing their egos head to head while they wrangle over matters such as intellectual property protection and participant`s rights. But after 20-minutes, it goes all smart-arsed and cocky; is this bit the documentary? Is this bit the acting? What`s actually going on here? After half an hour, it literally tuns into a non-sequitur series of scenes blurring the line between reality and fiction, as footage of their `project` - a terrible dog`s dinner of a soap opera - and mock behind the scenes footage is spliced into what you as the viewer are watching. It`s here you come to the realisation that `Co/Ma` itself is the result of this apparent Figgis masterclass, and what we`re seeing isn`t a documentary following the making of a film at all, it`s the film itself - a skewed presentation of art imitating life. It`s pretending to be real, but it`s actually all fake, y`see? Oh joy, we cry, another pastiche of post-modernism and self-knowing. I dare say `Co/Ma` would turn a few heads in some circles if it wasn`t actually a load of boring old nonsense and about 8 years too late.

Clearly intended as a slice of smart indie cinema where you`re not supposed to be able to see the seams, let alone pull the genuine article away from the fiction, `Co/Ma` is anything but. It`s badly acted, horrendously directed and edited, and, although these are the desired effects, because it`s, you know, clever and stuff, 90-minutes of rubbish is 90-minutes of rubbish whichever way you slice it.