Quadrangle 2010
Distributed by Cinema Guild, 115 West 30th Street, Suite 800, New York, NY 10001; 212-685-6242
Produced by Amy Grappell & Chris Krager
Directed by Amy Grappell
DVD, color and b&w, 20 min.
Sr. High – General Adult
American Studies, Human Sexuality
Date Entered: 12/07/2011
Reviewed by Kathleen Spring, Nicholson Library, Linfield College, McMinnville, OR“Everyone has a tragedy. Everyone has an interesting life.” In 1969, one married couple’s life on Long Island took an interesting and non-traditional turn, documented in the short film Quadrangle. Director Amy Grappell tells the story of her parents, Deanna and Paul, who became involved in a sexually experimental relationship with another married couple, Eleanor and Robert. Both couples had been experiencing stress and strain in their marriages and were somewhat bored with their respective spouses. A mutual attraction and flirtation developed between Deanna and Robert and between Paul and Eleanor, and the couples soon became inseparable.
Throughout the film, Deanna and Paul maintain that the couples’ relationship as a foursome was not “sleazy” or “just an affair.” Rather, they believed they had discovered “a brave new world,” an alternative arrangement that would allow each couple to be happy while avoiding divorce. Set amidst a cultural backdrop that encouraged both sexual and pharmaceutical experimentation, the foursome’s relationship became further complicated when, after a fire in their home, Eleanor and Robert (and their children) moved in with Deanna and Paul. Neighbors talked, and the couples’ relationship experiment eventually imploded when Eleanor and Deanna began to have difficulties with each other.
The film runs in simultaneous split-screen mode, creating a running commentary that often overlaps like conversation at a cocktail party. The frankness with which Deanna and Paul tell their stories, coupled with the careful editing that interweaves the separate threads from Deanna and Paul’s interviews, combine to create a very strong film that delivers a compelling look at matrimonial discord and experimental relationships. Archival photographs interspersed with the side-by-side interviews offer visual linkages between the past and the present.
Although it deals with sexual themes and includes references to drug use, the film is nevertheless appropriate for a wide audience and would be a welcome addition to both public and academic library collections. Libraries owning Paul Mazursky’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) will certainly want to own this film in order to provide a non-fiction perspective on the complications of partner swapping.
Highly Recommended
Awards:
- Winner, Best Documentary Short, 2010 SXSW Film Festival
- Winner, Honorable Mention Jury Prize, 2010 Sundance Film Festival