Remember My Name

Plenty of people move to Nashville with dreams of being a songwriter and “making it big.” My dad was one of them. But like so many cogs in Nashville’s Dream-Making Machine, things didn’t exactly turn out as he had hoped. It’s no surprise the dream continues to linger.

Jeff Fulmer’s Remember My Name? is a documentary about another Don Quixote attacking the Nashville windmill. It follows Jeff Reynolds’ move from Arizona to Nashville with his wife Peggy, fueled by dreams of Jeff’s songs being heard by millions of people. “Nothing beats that,” Jeff says, having heard the roar of the crowd in his mind for years.

Jeff is a shy, soft-spoken man, whose relaxed demeanor gives no indication of the meth addiction he used to have. The drugs, he says simply, are in the past. Jeff’s reticence about his earlier years dissolves when he talks about his music, and the shyness morphs into bravado (Jeff proudly proclaims that it’s a matter of time before he’s in the County Music Hall of Fame). These contradictions will continue to haunt him.

Remember My Name? (the title is Jeff’s personal motto) isn’t so much an examination of country music, but a meditation on the dream of celebrity. Jeff concedes that he wants to be successful so he can tend to his daughter and grandkids, who merely survive in Arizona while Jeff and Peggy live in a van by a Nashville park. These family scenes are the most gut-wrenching to watch; I hoped Jeff and Peggy would be rewarded in the end for their sacrifices.

However, that release never comes. After being taken in by a local club owner, Jeff and Peggy are ultimately forced to move to Kentucky, where, in the most surprising part of the film, criminal allegations threaten to derail their dreams.

Throughout Remember My Name?, Fulmer smartly places interviews with periphery figures to enhance the story, providing more insight into the price of Jeff and Peggy’s delusion. From “The Price Boys” in Kentucky to the West Virginian preacher who usurps Jeff’s Nashville street corner when he leaves, Remember My Name? is filled with all kinds of people hanging on to a dream, reality be damned.

Remember My Name? does have some flaws. There are times when Fulmer’s voiceover is too much; after a great sequence in which Jeff and Peggy talk about their life together, and how they want to benefit their grandchildren, an unnecessary voiceover describes what Fulmer thinks about what we’ve just seen. Other times Fulmer interjects with narration when there is no need --the final voiceover, for example, where he declares that he will always remember Jeff and Peggy’s names, is painfully maudlin.

For the most part, Remember My Name? is an incredibly affecting documentary. It made me think about Dad, and his own stories of living in cars and hotel rooms. It is a story that has been told a million times before in this town, and will continue to be told as long as people have dreams.

by Jesse Perry

back to top

A Silent Affair

Unfortunately, when I have the opportunity to view a short film…far to often I come away a bit disoriented. Maybe my thought processes are not esoteric enough to capture the depth of the message which the short has intended to portray to me, but for whatever reason, I tend to think most are overly indulgent, overly extended, and overly chaotic with messages. I guess what I’m saying is that my opinion of a short film is based on it’s simplicity of message…and it’s ability to depict that message in the truncated form. Which brings me to the topic of this article…the short film entitled, ‘A Silent Affair’.

The title, ‘A Silent Affair’, is in no way misleading. The short follows, in silent movie format, first the culminating pregnancy of our lead female’s extramarital fling and the ensuing attempt by our protagonist to entrap her husband into a sexual act so as to convince him that the unwanted child in her body is the product of that much anticipated romp.

From its onset, there is very little question that the film has not been overly produced…it’s grainy style and tongue-in-cheek title cards which explain that the film has only one line, "because they couldn’t afford a soundman", foreshadows a bit of the wry comedy for which you have to look forward.
From there, the work continues to move at a simplistic, relevant, and quickened pace which neither allows the viewer to lose interest in the standard, "This is the message" portion of the story, nor to lose focus on the eternal goal of the protagonist by interjecting superfluous information or actions which are irrelevant to the films end purpose. In short, this lady will try anything and everything to fornicate and save her hide…much to the chagrin of her unaware husband. And ‘A Silent Affair’ never sways from that point.

Now, without giving away the ending, which I must say, included the one spoken line and also provided me with a good chuckle, the producers of the show neatly, and comically put a bow on their story…while simultaneously leaving the question of "what happens next" in your crawl.
‘A Silent Affair’is one of the most coherent and well-done pieces of filmmaking which I have had the opportunity to view in Nashville…and outside of Nashville, and I recommend that you take the time to watch this witty piece of work post-haste. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, or a film by it’s flashy-high dollar style. If you do, you just might miss this entertaining one.

by Chris Stringfield

back to top

Top Five
Nashville Independent Film Festival Selections

1. A definitive film blending the Pinocchio syndrome and maternal infertility with an abstracted approach to psychosis made “Little Otik,” a Czech film worth adding to the foreign film library of must owns. “Little Otik,” is the story of a sterile couple who purchases a cottage in the country to replace a child, but to metaphysically astounding results. The husband, for a joke, makes a stump into the shape of a baby and insanity ensues with outstanding imagery in the classic film style and the deeply disturbed wife who adopts the log. I would watch it at least two more times.

2. “Maangamizi: The Ancient One,” was wonderful in its successful message of reconciling family problems. The story takes place in Africa and revolves around one girl’s family, her father murders her mother who was pregnant, and then he dies mysteriously. The soul of her sister is born in America and she comes to the mental institution to save her sister’s mind. It is a long movie, but well worth watching for a lasting impact of sensible values and eternal themes that do not give up.

3. Short films are often more powerful than their counterpart competition the feature length. “Side Effects,” is one of these under appreciated masterpieces that spawn insights that grow like, when we take a substance an we never forget the feeling of what we experience therefore base other aspects of our lives on that feeling. Any kind of continuous indulgence even when shared with others can be detrimental. “Side Effects,” screams build a theatre that shows quality short films for three dollars a ticket. I loved, “Side Effects.”

4. “Salinidad,” or translated, “Salad Days,” chronicles the life of a restaurant salad that falls in love with a fish in the cooler. The fish gets eaten and the salad is trashed. The salad is reborn as a salad and then gets eaten by the person who ate the fish. Inside the consumers body is the universe and as cells the fish and the salad meet and become one, perhaps to be reborn as a complete human. “Salinidad,” was an amazing portrayal of the possibilities of love and friendship. The costuming and sets were perfect. I would watch this short film again because of the intriguing representation of the characters.

5. “How Harry Became A Tree,” explored sensuality, love, upper and lower class, jealousy, faith, hatred, trust, and stubbornness within a small 1920’s Irish town. The worst characters get what they deserve and the film shows that characters ask for their destiny. The dueling characters meet their demise in surprising ways and the one with a son becomes immortalized by the others funeral photographers by pure chance. The ending is beautiful and the acting simple enough to identify the characters thirty seconds into their introductory scenes. “How Harry Became A Tree” is a definite must and an easy find.

by John Gosslee

back to top