I Love Memphis

I spent part of yesterday afternoon watching Kirt Gunn’s made-in-Memphis movie “Lovely by Surprise“, and here I am, nearly 24 hours later, still trying to process it.

“Lovely By Surprise” is about Marian, a writer who creates two fictional, boat-dwelling brothers who are attached to the non-fictional world. It’s also about childhood tragedy, love, death, used cars and the perils of eating too much cereal. It’s a lush, dense 98 minutes of stark contrasts between darkness and light set to a soundtrack with music by Shelby Bryant and the Magnetic Fields.

The film was made in 2007, and since then, it’s been gathering praise at film festivals all over the country. It totally deserves them – everything about the film is superb.

Though the city’s name is never really mentioned, the film is a very Memphis movie. One of the fictional brothers does a sprint through Midtown in his blue tightey whiteys, running past the Memphis College of Art, the Coliseum, Joe’s Liquor, and the Memphis Zoo. The movie is a complete visual treat. Gunn made Memphis look like one of the most beautiful, soft places on earth, with coloring reminiscent of photos taken on a Lomography camera.

You can pick up a copy of Lovely By Surprise on Amazon. It’s also available for rent through Netflix.