Under The Radar/World Premiere
Rona Mark/USA/2010/109 min/tbc
Writer/director Rona Mark returns to the EIFF following her success with Strange Girls in 2008, with The Crab, a dark comedy drama about Levi (Guy Whitney), a failed academic who suffers from the genetic disorder ectrodactyly , a condition which has left him with deformed hands. Unable to work or come to terms with his past, the film follows Levi as he develops a crush on his best friend’s girlfriend, which soon becomes an obsession.
Set in New York, Mark’s film begins in 2004, with Levi’s thesis being rejected, before jumping to 2010 and trailing Levi as he spends his days drinking, masturbating and being vile towards everyone he knows. And it’s this inability to deal with rejection, coupled with his emotional fragility and addictive personality that are revealed as his weaknesses, and not his disability. While the characters that surround him accept him for how he looks, it’s his caustic personality and acerbic wit that prove to be his downfall, as his actions and words drive everyone in his life away. Whitney excels in his turn as the outspoken and negative Levi, but it’s Mark’s tender representation of Levi’s condition and his plight that makes The Crab so unique.
Showing @ Filmhouse, 21st of June, 22:15
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