Gilgamesh (2014) Review

A while back we interviewed Richard Chandler about his then upcoming film Gilgamesh, which he wrote, directed, edited, co-produced, and starred in. Yes, this is a low-budget, DIY, gorilla-shoot-where-you-can type of film.

At its core, Gilgamesh is a simple story, nicely summed up on its IMDB page:
A military expedition in Siberia gone wrong. The existence of humanity is in peril as Inanna, Sumerian goddess of lust and war, has summoned a giant meteor to destroy the planet, after being accidentally set free from her ancient prison.

However, there are a lot of other things that happen. Such as two archeologists (a married couple, Kristen and David) being commissioned on that military expedition for formality’s sake because what they’re really doing is looking for an alien lifeform. As stated, things go awry and David ends up on the run, stumbling into a cabin in the woods (don’t worry, this film doesn’t go there) where he finds Inanna, who’s held captive in a cage and nearly naked. He sets her free and she somehow follows him back home to Boston.

Keep in mind that Inanna is the Sumerian goddess of lust and war. So, because David saved her, she feels he owes him, which means that he belongs to her in some way. Now, oddly David’s wife gets pregnant despite David’s sterility. I probably missed something, but I’m assuming Inanna had something to do with that immaculate conception as a way to pay off her life debt to him. However, it doesn’t exactly go as planned.

Inanna does have destructive plans for mankind, summoning the hovering meteor to bring about the end of time. But there’s Gilgamesh who had kept Inanna captive, protecting Earth in the process. Unfortunately, the U.S. military used the particle accelerator to destroy him (or not).

So, the meteor gets destroyed (or not), causing radiation fallout and a dust cloud that blocks out the sun, and somehow Gilgamesh posthumously uses mind control over citizens to kill the leaders of the Western world. This, I think, opens the door for a communist takeover by Special Agent Lars, as citizens either live in bomb shelters or above ground in a post-apocalyptic hell.

I think.

Now, there are actually a lot of interconnected relationships in the movie, and by the time the credits roll all is revealed, and you may have more questions as we get a bit of narration about existentialism.

The Verdict:

Gilgamesh is an interesting film that may or may not be about the U.S. and its foreign and domestic policies. You’ll have to decide that for yourself. I suspect most people will hate this movie, perceiving it as too arty and trying to say too much. I suggest that those in this group give the movie a chance to express itself. If you can look past the bad acting, the perceived multiple endings (because quite frankly, some scenes and plot developments are 10 times longer than they need to be), the wordy script, and the poor special effects, then you might find a movie worth watching. There’s a part of me that wonders what a major studio with a big budget could do with this movie, but there’s a bigger part of me that likes the underground and gritty film presented here.