Wilder Napalm

A regrettably forgotten film that characteristically remained woefully misunderstood in its time due to its deviant peculiarity and flamboyant brilliance, and that state of affairs still persist to this day. At the same time, thanks to the incipient work of screenwriter Vince Gilligan, who is now finally revered as one of the most brilliant creative talents thanks to Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, it is somewhat easier to understand the merits of his debut. In light of the aforementioned hit series, the essence of Wilder Napalm is more readily apparent; it even proves to be a sort of more creative and fantastically over-the-top variation of Breaking Bad. The fantastical motif of pyrokinesis serves here as a catalyst that makes it possible to set a blaze in the limed space of a feature film the motifs that Gilligan allowed to slowly smoulder in the series – from the mundanity of everyday life of the lower middle class, which bubbles up into relationship crises, to a crisis of masculinity tied to illusory gender patterns of performance and social roles and statuses. In addition to Gilligan’s contribution, it is also necessary to pay homage to the other artists involved, as Wilder Napalm is also captivating due to its superbly polished form, where the camerawork, set design and costumes play a primary role. Together, they help to define the characters and express their dynamics and qualities, which again helps to cram a tremendous number of subliminal characterisation elements into the film (see the main heroine’s present but unheralded preference for green – thus costumes as a means of defining the characters). (2018.07.01)