Sean Parker
It’s always fun to be surprised by the return of characters you’d never thought you’d see again. While Hollywood hits are almost intrinsically positioned for sequels, indie films rarely have opportunities to follow up on what their protagonists have been up to. When I first saw the trailer for Vulcanizadora, I had no idea what Buzzard was or had any idea it would be such a trip to see where these characters came from and where they ended up. While you don’t need to see Buzzard to understand their continuing story in Vulcanizadora, their past is important when it comes to why director Joel Potrykus brought them back.
It’s been ten years since Buzzard chewed up the indie spotlight, garnering Potrykus a world of praise for his look at millennial workplace malaise and the corporate greed that supports it. Buzzard introduced us to two slacker characters, Marty and Derek, played by Joshua Burge and Potrykus. Unlike most slacker films people hold dear, such as Dazed and Confused or Clerks, these characters were less like caricatures, edgier, and more well-rounded. Marty, representing a modern-day Holden Caulfield, doesn’t accept the bootlicking, shill-driven status quo lifestyle of the American working class and exists only to rip off banks and large companies and pocket the savings. Marty accepts responsibility for nothing, leaning on his well-intentioned coworker, Derek, who exists as a loaner and a way for Marty to escape a potential criminal conviction.
In Potrykus’ latest, Vulcanizadora, we check back in on Marty and Derek after the decade following Buzzard. We quickly find that a life of petty crime has taken its toll, with Marty looking down the barrel of serious jail time following an arson conviction. The film begins with Marty and Derek, who have become besties in the years that have passed, uncomfortably silent on a walk into the woods while a heavy metal soundtrack fills the space. Derek breaks the silence with a bit about forgetting his keys, and Marty’s subsequent “who cares” banter informs a theory about why these characters are headed into the Michigan woods.
With the silence broken, Derek fills the first half of Vulcanizadora with childlike conviction and a general excitement about spending time camping with Marty. It’s a feverish mentality filled with fireworks, Jägermeister, porno mags, and buddy comedy until they arrive at the banks of Lake Michigan, where a pact made between the two friends changes the tone of the film and breaks the audience’s heart. The definitive moment separates the film into two parts: what occurs before the event and what happens after. Before the event, viewers watch with little understanding as Potrykus leaves clues about the duo’s travels and slowly builds to this moment of delineation.
With the aggregate understanding of the film far from grasp, Vulcanizadora appears meandering prior to the event. It’s a considerably slow roll that picks up right when it needs to, and the second half manifests a beguiling gravitas as characters poignantly awaken themselves to the living hell they’ve effectually created. In that way, Vulcanizadora is a coming-of-age story of sorts. These characters may be well-grown, but they’ve never really fit into the category of “grown-up.” If Buzzard serves as the youthful scourge of sticking it to the man, Vulcanizadora suggests where that life will get you as the viewer watches grief become an insufferable weight, cursing a character with instant maturity.
Potrykus deserves a lot of credit for this vision of unimaginable terror. Horror elements were present in Buzzard, with Marty crafting A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Kruger’s signature weapon out of a Nintendo power glove. Still, the film was far more dramatic, offering a slice of realistic Americana for 2014, warts and all. Buzzard sits in the niche section of anti-establishment film lovers’ collections amongst SLC Punk, Dinner in America, and If… Vulcanizadora, on the other hand, is a sobering sequel about how raging against the machine never affects the machine. Accountability, responsibility, and moral dilemma bring forth an extraordinary existential crisis for characters who have grown accustomed to getting away with things. It still contains a horror-inspired contraption on par with a device seen in Saw but delivers a more complex tension that provokes inner turmoil that proves Potrykus himself has also matured.
There’s a theme emerging in horror lately that contests the absolute admonishing of character actions. Tales that are thoroughly fu*ked up with characters doing inexcusable things and attempting to find atonement through any possible means. They’re stirring, intimate portraits that pine for mercy in a culture obsessed with black-and-white rules and harsh punishments. Watching characters grow and diligently work toward righting their wrongs speaks to the depth of Vulcanizadora’s writing. Furthermore, it alleviates the audience of offering absolution for the character. Whether you like them or not doesn’t matter, but changing and growing shows what actual repentance is.
The absolute magic act of Vulcanizadora is that you won’t be able to see it the same way twice, knowing what’s coming. Relishing the calm, introspective, and meditative first half and appreciating its languorous build helps make the second half that much more effective as the film connects moments that push you to examine guilt and loss. However, this is an experience you can only really have once. Don’t get me wrong, some of my favorite films have been one-shot experiences, and Potrykus has delivered one hell of a gut-punch of a film. Yet, I’d be more apt to press someone else to witness Vulcanizadora for the first time and discuss their perspective. And, whoa boy, you will need to talk to someone about it after seeing it. The film is tragically beautiful, with occasional comedic moments delivered with deadpan humor.
The technical side of Vulcanizadora is a considerable step up from its predecessor. Buzzard’s minimalist budget utilized a handycam-styled soft tone that gets replaced by a solid and steady 16mm look in the new feature. The sound and editing are much better, especially in the open-air scenes that encompass the film’s first half. Vulcanizadora doesn’t use as many locations as Buzzard did, so whatever budget Potrykus operated on to produce this sequel probably leaned a little more into the production values, resulting in some rich and captivating shots in the forest and on the beach.
Vulcanizadora won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. While it uses the same characters, it traverses a decisively different direction from Buzzard and provides an entirely separate experience. Elements of Buzzard are present, such as its blurred line genre mechanics, but it seems much darker, and the message has grown up. While some people are wise beyond their years, the film’s target audience is the aging punk, the thirty or forty-somethings eyeing their oncoming golden years, looking back and wishing they’d done some things differently. Younger folks can still enjoy it, but I don’t see it holding the same resonance.
Vulcanizadora held its International premiere on July 19 as part of the Fantasia International Film Festival. The film plays again on Tuesday, July 23. Visit the Fantasia website for more information and tickets.
Vulcanizadora teaser official
Uploaded by Joel Potrykus on 2024-06-04.
