Winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Award at the Sundance Film Festival, 2003

Billed as the fist film to successfully move through each of the supportive stages offered by the Sundance Institute, Mark Decena's journey as film writer and director began back in the late Nineties, having written & directed a very witty short film for Sundance called "One of Those Days." Included as a bonus on this DVD, the black & white short is a sweet, visually comedic film, and uses poetic captions, expertly timed for some great irony and visual gags.

Decena's ability to combine subtle humour is one of the major strengths of "Dopamine," his feature debut, co-written with Timothy Breitbach. His visual approach supports the film's solid characters, and bereft of pretentious music montages and feel-good sequences designed for a soundtrack sale, the film maintains an honesty and solid pacing, avoiding typical cliches that often render big budget romantic dramas into predictable fodder.

Shot on digital video [DV], this is a very well-made film, and Robert Humphreys' cinematography is gorgeous, creating all the finely lit images of a larger budgeted film, including tracking shots unaffected by minor strobing - one of DV's giveaways, resident in bigger-budgeted films like "Once Upon A Time In Mexico."

Co-writer Breitbach and Decena appear on the commentary track, along with actress Sabrina Lloyd ("Sport's Night" and "Sliders"), and the trio maintain a consistent, amiable dialogue on the film's construction, and the excellent cast of lesser-known actors. The included "Behind the Scenes" featurette also provides some on-set footage, including interview clips taken during various completion stages.

Both commentary and featurette also address the use of Panasonic's high-end DV camera, and the featurette delves into the tight post-production schedule that was done one day before the film's Sundance Film Festival debut. The film's producers also discuss their own fears about getting the film realized, although each consistently voices their faith in the project, due largely to the film's screenplay.

Three deleted scenes are included, preceded by a set-up from Decena, and illustrate some of the necessary changes made when the film's original opening and a comedic sub-plot affected the lead character's sympathetic nature, and the ongoing development of the core romance, respectively.

The brief "Introduction" from director Decena elaborates on the surprise both writers felt when their script was chosen for the Sundance workshop, refined over several years, and the joy in finally getting the green light to direct his dream project. There's very little biographical info on Decena & Breitbach, in terms of their pre-filmmaking careers, but the director's wife, who produced the film, discusses the difficulty of maintaining a normal family schedule as the movie took over their lives. It's clear from their comments, however, that most of the production team was comprised of grounded personalities with unwavering determination.

This is a well-produced release, with a transfer that once again demonstrates the artistic viability of digital cinema.

© 2004 Mark R. Hasan