‘Places’ is a quiet primer for the end of our LakeFrontRow Cinema season

Travelogue it may be, Kyle Arpke’s docu-short is a worthy tease of his feature-length family drama. Catalyst closes out LakeFrontRow Cinema on Tues, Dec 8.

Catalyst, which ends our 2015 run at the Central Madison Library, is one heck of a debut film.  Director Kyle Arpke engages with spiritual and emotional values in a quiet feature-length drama as two brothers (Nick Kavanaugh, Justice Rieth) learn to reconcile their places within both their family and the larger world.

As a travelogue, Places has very little in common. Shot by Arpke over a period of 10 days, the docu-short is an assemblage of the Milwaukee-based director’s experiences in Lucknow, among India’s larger metropolitan areas. There’s little pattern to Arpke’s camera. At times it’s a passive observer, peeking through foliage at the city’s denizens. In other moments, it’s an active participant, zipping alongside cars and motorcycles.

But Places also has an undulating rhythm to its cuts and noises. The bustle of Indian traffic dissolves into still quietude, before schoolchildren walk single file. Eventually, we hear temple singing that rings out in the background. Honks and beeps are quiet, if only for a brief moment, and it’s that attention to detail and reverent perspective that come through in both projects. Whether 82 minutes in length or 8, Arpke knows when to roll and for how long.

  • Join us at the Central Library on Tues, Dec 8 as Kyle Arpke’s Catalyst closes out our 2015 LakeFrontRow Cinema season. Arpke, as well as actor Scott Bailey will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A. FREE at 6:30p.