Berlinale 2020: BLOODY NOSE, EMPTY POCKETS (Panorama)

In the depths of Las Vegas, that bastion of unchecked capitalism, a neighborhood dive bar is having its final day of business. It’s also 2016, in the final days prior to a grand victory for Trumpism. Bill and Turner Ross’ new movie presents itself like a piece of embedded journalism, as if the camera were another patron sitting on a bar stool, giving you an unflinching look at marginalized American lives trying to cope with the aid of an unending stream of beer. And this is what it looks like when that stream gets cut off.

In its own unique way, BLOODY NOSE, EMPTY POCKETS is that movie -- it looks and feels like a fly-on-the-wall documentary. What’s rather amazing is that it isn’t a documentary at all. At least, not in the traditional sense. The Ross brothers have manufactured this narrative, while at the same time using a real bar and real patrons.

And what patrons they are: you have a bitter, down-on-his-luck middle-aged actor, who is essentially living at the bar; a Vietnam vet who doesn’t say much, but when he does, it’s deep; a large Australian man with a fondness for LSD; and an amateur poet with a penchant for fisticuffs. Add one honey-voiced bartender who’s quick to brandish a guitar, and another who’s trying to keep her teenage son out of trouble while also keeping her clientele in line, and you have a better cast than most mainstream movies. There isn’t a dull moment in this one.

Few movies capture such an honest and full cross-section of modern American life as BLOODY NOSE, EMPTY POCKETS, and it’s really a remarkable cinematic creation as well as an impactful experience. It’s a movie that is certainly worth catching while you can, as it gives you a pub-full of characters you won’t easily forget. After it’s Berlinale premier on Monday night, you can try to catch it at the following times:

26.02, 14:30 - Colosseum 1

28.02, 16:00 - Cinemaxx 4

01.03, 22:00 - Cubix 7