Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...


Photo of Jacob Combs By Jacob Combs | Thompson on Hollywood March 18, 2013 at 4:07PM

'Silver Circle'
'Silver Circle'

But there is some good moviemaking in here as well, like a car chase scene that leads to a good cat-and-mouse sequence as Zoe and Nelson evade Brandt's henchmen.  In general, sets and backgrounds come across better than characters, so the film's broader, less dialogue-focused scenes play more naturally.

The real problem, though, is "Silver Circle"'s omnipresent, black-and-white argument about monetary policy and political economy.  The website for "Silver Circle" asserts that the movie is not politically partisan and "does not represent any certain political party."  The keyword there is 'party,' not 'political'--while one could reasonably make the case that the film's rebels (and its villains, for that matter) can't be classified as Democrats or Republicans, the political message of "Silver Circle" is clear.  When your film includes a guy in a Ron Paul shirt playing guitar on the street singing lyrics like "I will not submit to authority," it's not too hard to tell which way the wind is blowing.

This heavy-handedness of message ends up robbing "Silver Circle" of any real power to elicit a change of mind or even self-questioning in its viewers.  The film's argument itself comes across as an almost authoritarian fiat (silver and gold: good, paper money: bad), and is enough to make anyone with an ounce of iconoclasm in his or her bones want to run to the ATM to grab a fistful of dollars, just to mess with the system-that-isn't-a-system.

"Silver Circle" could be a more successful film if it had taken its anti-paper money, pro-individual message and expressed it in a setting that was less recognizable than the DC-area suburbs through which Jay Nelson and Zoe romp.  One of the most powerful aspects of the best politically dystopic works of art is the combination of the personal and the political.  We rarely see the political machinations of George Orwell's Airstrip One in "1984"; instead, we experience the effect that such a society has on the novel's protagonist, Winston Smith.  It's only through Winston's eyes that we come to truly understand the horrors of Airstrip One.

It's hard to find any character as relatable--or even as humanly frail--as Winston Smith in "Silver Circle."  Jay Nelson is introduced as a paragon of honesty, and he throws his lot in with the rebels after a surprisingly quick change of heart and mind.  He never seems to undergo any sort of fundamental change; because he doesn't, neither do we.  This right-or-wrong infallibility makes it hard to see Nelson--or "Silver Circle" itself--as more than a political cartoon, an image of hyperbole that makes its point but doesn't engender much further discussion.

"Silver Circle" opens in New York City on March 22 for a week-long engagement at Cinema Village.

This article is related to: Independents, Animation, Politics

E-Mail Updates