PARK CITY, Utah — Last year, former “Twilight” vamp Robert Pattinson proved he was no lightweight with a gritty turn in the indie heist “Good Time.” He’s now pulled a 180 with a hilariously oddball performance in the western comedy “Damsel,” whose title belies the formidable woman (Mia Wasikowska) at its center.
Directors David and Nathan Zellner, onstage at Sundance, described their movie’s unique tone as a mix of contemporary, old-timey and “lines from Looney Tunes cartoons.” As a nice footnote to the absurdity, they brought out the film’s miniature horse to join the post-screening cast Q&A (Q&neigh?).
“Damsel,” shot in part in Sundance’s own Park City and set in the mid-1800s, is ostensibly about a gallant fellow named Samuel (Pattinson) on a mission to rescue his beloved, Penelope (Wasikowska), who’s been kidnapped by a dastardly villain.
But nothing goes according to plan, even Samuel’s attempt to mosey into a dusty town saloon and order a beer: He gets tangled in his guitar strap when he tries to take it off, and he purses his lips fussily at the whiskey that’s the only thing on offer.
Samuel enlists the town parson (David Zellner) and a tiny horse named Butterscotch to join him. Their ensuing journey is a strange, awkward thing, paced considerably more slowly than today’s viewer will be accustomed to. The film takes the time to listen to and ogle its gorgeous landscape. There seem to be three beats between each line instead of one.
It takes a bit to get accustomed to the Zellners’ style — but once you do, boy, does “Damsel” really blossom. (It’s also got one of the most original scores I’ve heard, from the band The Octopus Project, whose soundtrack is rather like The Cure by way of Sergio Leone.)
Suffice it to say the rescue does not go smoothly, and that Penelope is not the “in distress” type. She, rather than any of her suitors, is the cowboyish hero of this story, giving a resounding smackdown to the notion of chivalry.
“Damsel’s” physical comedy, deadpan dialogue and the occasional burst of bloody violence meld into a very modern meditation on relationships in the frontier era. “How,” one hapless character laments, “is anyone supposed to meet anyone out here?”