Why Haven’t You Seen It: Silver Tongues

People with silver tongues are often some of the most dangerous people in the world. Why? They can get you to do things you would never consider. They can twist you all up using little else but their words, and once you are twisted, tied, and damn near useless, they can just walk away, and leave you hanging there, forever. Someone with a silver tongue can get you to have sex when you don’t want to. Someone with a silver tongue can get to you try drugs or commit a crime you would never even consider. They can get you to betray your own family, then, in keeping with the sociopath tendencies that most people with silver tongues have, that can just as quickly betray you and think nothing of it. This movie is about people like that, and casts them in a light you have never quite seen. Another dark trip to a dark place with Remy and friends.

Silver Tongues is a film that, right now, this moment, I will tell you that you should go watch blind. Just trust me, and go watch it now, without knowing anything. The movie will have much more of an impact, if you go at it like I did, knowing nothing at all. But, also, I shall not spoil anything. I will make some hints, place some vague pictures, and I will tell you about a few scenes, but nothing major will be ruined, so read on if you wish to know more with no fear of spoilers.

This pic may seem like a spoiler, but trust me, you have no idea.

Though it is hard to recommend to most because it is a bit twisted, and has no real heroes, I guess the best way I can explain it is, Silver Tongues is about a road trip that a couple takes together, stopping and various points to completely and utterly fuck with people. Are they doing this for fun? Are they doing it is some kind of research? How do these two know each other? Why is she with him? At what point do they draw the line? You will find yourself with these questions and many more, and though the best questions get bold and in-your-face answers, you WILL walk away from this movie with some unanswered questions, but here, that is necessary to tell the story they are trying to tell, and the ambiguity at times only makes the story have that much more of an impact, especially when it draws to a (staggering) close.

Who are these two and how do they factor in? Moreover, do they factor in?

The other real reason Silver Tongues is actually hard to recommend to people is because there are no protagonists in this movie, like I said. There will be points when you may think there is, but there really isn’t. These are messed up people, doing messed up things, and the reasons we get for that, at times, are nonexistent.

So what do they do?

Well, that’s a bit tougher to explain. Silver Tongues is a story of two people,  the brilliant Lee Tergesen as “Gerry”, and Enid Graham as “Joan”, and though we know these two are on some kind of trip together, the film hands us little else, causing our minds to silently write a back story while watching the film. As all is revealed, very slowly, you will see a picture of two twisted people, and though you will try to find reasons for their actions, you won’t, but that desire to find out will keep you watching. Just be aware, each time a question seems to get answered, a new one will arise. That is half the reason I was so glued to my screen during Silver Tongues. I kept wondering: Where the fuck is this movie going?

Halfway mark. Here, have a trailer and some more insight.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNH87BWWJb0

Though you will find yourself wondering about why these two do what they do, it also begs the question of the viewer: why do ANY OF US do what we do?

There is a dynamic present between Gerry and Joan through the entirety of this movie that, as a viewer, you can feel. There are moments of passion, when they look at each other with the kind of gaze you WISH you significant other would look at you with. There are moments of rage, when you will see such hatred and anger in their eyes, y0u will wonder how they can even see each other at all. And even in other situations, you will see them gazing, almost as if their souls are locked way down deep, so far, in fact, that their eyes just look like shields, not letting anything in. And from the first exchange they have in the bar with the young couple (which is teased at in the trailer, but plays a very insignificant role in the actual film) to their climax, which will have you re-evaluating everything you just took in, it is a quite ride, delivered at a slow pace, but there is something MESMERIZING about all of it. From churches to an old folks’ homes, nothing is sacred, and nothing is off limits. But again, all utterly mesmerizing.

The main reason for this is Lee Tergesen as Gerry.

While you may think him unassuming in the beginning of the flick, wait until the scene in the retirement home.

When was the last time you saw a sociopath on screen, and got freaked out based only on the fact that you KNOW someone like that has to exist in real life? That, my friends, is Gerry in Silver Tongues. He is every thing he needs to be in any situation to survive and thrive. If he needs to seem sweet and innocent, that is how you will see him in that moment. If he needs to seem intimidating and intense, that is how you will see him in that moment. Hell, even if he needs to seem like an authority figure, he pulls that off with ease, commanding a whole room with little effort and the flash of a fake badge. He is like some magic mixup of Tyler Durden, Hannibal Lecter, and that scary voice in all of our subconscious that tells us to do whatever we want, damn the torpedoes. And this, my friends, is the lead of the movie. No Romeos here.

Next up, we have a performance just as amazing, but for totally different reasons. Enid graham as Joan.

Well, they are not about to kiss, we can safely assume that.

Joan is a wholly different character from Gerry. Or is she? She is the yin to all his yang. When he is irrational, she is the rational one. When he is the bad guy, she is the good guy. She will have you run the gamut of emotions, at points wondering what her real reason for being here, and at other times, just pitying her. But you need to know there are MANY layers to this story, and it is not until the final layer is peeled that you will know the real story, and trust me, upon that reveal, it casts everything you saw in a wildly different glow than what you thought you just saw. As great movies often do, Silver Tongues requires two viewings. One, initially, going at it blind. And then a second, once you comprehend what you just saw. Like I said, the thing about people with silver tongues is, they tell you just what you want to hear, regardless of how that affects anyone but them. Carry that with you as you watch the film and take the ride with these two incredibly f*cked up creatures. This is a different kind of evil than you usually see on-screen, and that is what makes it an unforgettable film.

Also, if these sociopaths intrigue you, you should go read about THIS sociopath. That will REALLY mess you up.