Johnny (1999) Online

Johnny (Chris William Martin of "Felicity") is a sociopath, but his charisma is so overwhelming that it is easy to see how easily people can overlook this in a leader. He is strong, powerful, and -- most alarmingly -- tender and loving to his followers. In one moment he may be encouraging them to humiliate themselves, in the next goading them into acts of extreme violence against one another, and then making it all better by bestowing (apparently sincere) affection on his groupies. Johnny is a Hitler, a Mao, a rock star, a Charles Manson, and a messianic martyr rolled into one package. In other environments than the streets, he might have become a politician, an entertainer, a military leader, president of a Yale secret society, or the dark shadow of J. Pierpont Finch, rising from mailroom clerk to corporate command. This is one powerful movie!

The first 10-12 minutes seemed unnecessary to the plot. But, once the movie got into the story and into the characters, it was a powerful drama of confusion, abuse, power, and control filmed in an intimate style placing the movie viewer in the scenes. Some may think of this film as a sort of Animal Farm except with humans. The story is about a homeless band of young people whom we find are homeless by choice. They think they are held together by each other's friendship, but at the hub of their strength is "Johnny," the title character, that controls them all. As his needs are fulfilled, the others are torn apart and taken right to the edge. The audience is taken right along for the ride to a seemingly inevitable but unexpected conclusion. Strong performances by a talented group of young Canadian performers whom I hope we see a lot more of.

This is a good film. Mr. Bessai shows his directing chops in this nifty feature about street kids making their own little movie factory helmed by the megalomanic director/dictator Johnny. This is an insightful look not only into the hearts and lives of a disinfranchised youth but also into the mind of a director at odds with himself and the creative process. Not your average canadian film.