The Sentimental Engine Slayer
Encyclopedia
The Sentimental Engine Slayer (2010
2010 in film
The year 2010 saw many new films released worldwide. 2010 saw a dramatic increase and prominence in the use of 3D-technology in filmmaking and film releases after the success of Avatar in the format, with releases such as Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans, Jackass 3D, all animated films and...

) is the directorial film debut of Omar Rodríguez-López
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, writer, actor and film director who was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico...

, songwriter, guitarist and producer of rock group The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...

. Rodríguez-López wrote, produced and scored the film, as well as starring as its protagonist, Barlam. Despite Rodríguez-López completing two prior feature-length films, The Sentimental Engine Slayer is the first to screen publicly and will likely be the first available as a commercial release.

Filmed entirely on location in El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...

 in September/October 2007, the film features contributions from a number of persons associated with The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...

, notably John Frusciante (ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers and sometimes TMV guitarist; executive producer), Juan Alderete (TMV bassist; line producer); Paul Hinojos (former TMV guitarist; line producer); Sara Christina Gross (contributing saxophonist on various TMV and ORL releases; associate producer, co-production designer); Sonny Kay (Rodriguez Lopez Productions art director; co-production designer and title card design); and Lars Stalfors (live and studio engineer; sound recordist). A labor of love made possible with the favors of friends and family, The Sentimental Engine Slayer features appearances by and/or contributions of Rodríguez-López's parents and siblings, childhood friends, and a skeleton crew of industry professionals.

The film premiered at the 2010 International Film Festival Rotterdam
International Film Festival Rotterdam
The International Film Festival Rotterdam is an annual film festival held in various cinemas in Rotterdam, Netherlands held at the end of January. It is approximately comparable in size to other major European festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Locarno...

, and will be appearing at numerous festivals worldwide throughout 2010.

Plot

The Sentimental Engine Slayer tells the compelling, confounding tale of the overdue coming of age of a twenty-something misfit named Barlam. Barlam's awkward transition from boy to man is as much the story of struggling to find one's essence in a world of stereotypes as it is an indictment of the distorted reality of family life in the disengaged 21st century. A bottom-rung grocery bagger whose neo-incestuous relationship with his addict sister, Natalia, causes him no small amount of grief and disillusionment, Barlam seeks solace in the convoluted wisdom of what few male peers are available, namely his androgynous, alcoholic boss, Oscar, and the sister's simple-minded boyfriend, Zack. Seeking an explanation as to the strange circumstances of his apparent lack of family structure, as well as the respect from others fundamentally absent in his mundane model-building existence, Barlam is soon led astray amid a seedy underworld of prostitutes, hustlers and addicts. The labyrinthine plot soon begs questioning as to where reality ends and fantasy begins, Barlam shifting effortlessly between hapless punching bag, assertive surrogate father figure, and rage-prone psychopath.

External links

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