Back Against the Wall

Midwest experimental filmmaker James Fotopoulos employs his grim cinematic style for Back Against the Wall. Levey (Martin Shannon) lives in a harshly lit apartment decorated with mostly cardboard boxes. Waiting for his girlfriend June (Debbie Mulcahy) to return, he plays chess, reads books, and meets with his friend Ed (Ernie E. Frantz). When Levey is unresponsive to her underwear modeling show for him, she leaves him for Vince (Michael Wexler), which leads the film into a strange mix of pornography and violence. Following a sexually fueled costume party in a farmhouse, Vince is beaten up by thugs. The final segment focuses on Ed and June with a grotesque enigmatic ending. Shot in 16 mm black-and-white, Back Against the Wall premiered at the Anthology Film Archives in New York. —James Fotopoulos