Review: BFI Flare – Chasing Chasing Amy
We’ve all had that movie discovery at a young age that changed everything and influenced who we would become in later life. For 12 year old Sav Rodgers it was stumbling upon the VHS of 1997 rom-com Chasing Amy. At a time when he was contending with his queer identity, the film was a life raft and and very literally saved his life.
Chasing Amy of course is still considered one of the best films of Kevin Smiths career. Coming off the huge success of Clerks and the massive failure of Mallrats, Smith wrote a semi autobiographical piece about his relationship with actress Joey Lauren Adams and in part about his producers personal life.
The film was well received all round, with award nominations and the best reviews of Smiths career but it wasn’t particularly well received by the queer community at the time. The fact this was written by a straight white male and contained a plot point where a lesbian woman fell in love with a man (and that man being Ben Affleck no less) didn’t exactly go down well.
Fast forward 27 years and frankly the film has aged like milk. Watching even clips of the film is a frankly cringeworthy experience, but it helped save someone’s life – so that surely makes it worthy somehow, right?
And that’s some of the crux of Chasing Chasing Amy. Rodgers sits down with a lot of the figures involved in the making of the film including Smith himself, as well as other people in the movie making scene around that time. Particularly interesting is Guinevere Turner who wrote a well received black and white indie in Go Fish in 1994.
Chasing Amy clearly still means a lot to Smith, and as always he’s very honest. Totally aware of why the queer community didn’t appreciate the movie it’s still something close to his heart, no matter it’s faults.
We also take a look at Rodgers personal life and struggles, as well as his relationship with long distance girlfriend Riley. They seem a wonderful couple and truly are truly the heart of the movie.
But it’s a Chasing Amy interview about two thirds of the way into the movie that kinda turns things on it’s head. I won’t go into what exactly happens, but it’s at this point where the documentary almost becomes about making the documentary. It’s quite shocking and devastating stuff.
Chasing Chasing Amy covers so much, from different perspectives to the film now and then to how art can save people’s lives and bring them together. It’s unexpected “twist” adds another layer to the story and brings a whole new set of questions.
My intention was to rewatch Chasing Amy, but after watching this documentary I think it’s best left where it is in the past. But whether you’re a long term Askewniverse member or you’ve never even heard of the film before, Chasing Chasing Amy is a powerful film about the love of art and where it takes us in life.
Review by Thom thanks to press access from the BFI.
