Oregon Movies, A to Z » Chris Eyre

A Year In Mooring (2011)

Anne Richardson — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:02:00 +0000

A quietly contemplative, deliberately paced tale of renewal and redemption, A Year in Mooring sails smoothly, if not downright defiantly, far beyond the commercial mainstream. Variety

Chris Eyre entered filmmaking through still photography. Reviews of A Year In Mooring comment on the role the landscape plays – this makes sense to me since Eyre’s first inspiration as an artist was the landscape which surrounded Klamath Falls, where he grew up. His first photos were of hills and sky.

Here’s an except from Brendan McCauley’s review of Chris Eyre’s sixth feature, starring Josh Lucas.

While A Year in Mooring is reminiscent of some recent “man-alone” American films, such as Into the Wild and 127 Hours, and the lonely drunken stumbling of the Young Mariner even brings to mind parts of There Will Be Blood. With its slow pace, sparse dialogue, and contemplative photography it’s like the quiet Zen cinema of the Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu, or the painstaking spiritual fare of Frenchman Robert Bresson.

I hereby claim A Year In Mooring as an Oregon film, based on the contribution of the director, Oregonian Chris Eyre.

A River Runs Through It (1992)

Anne Richardson — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 05:55:25 +0000

Strange but true: A River Runs Through It, the Montana family saga/fly fishing tale, is an Oregon film. Director Robert Redford shot the fishing scenes on the Rogue River.

Thanks, and a tip of the hat to Grant McOmie for mentioning this particular chapter of Oregon film history in the course of profiling Wolf Creek Inn, Oregon’s little known getaway to the stars.

Other Hollywood luminaries who loved Wolf Creek Inn were Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, who came for the duck hunting, and Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, who came for the privacy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

But that’s not the only Oregon connection. One of the co-producers of A River Runs Through It is from Oregon: William Kittredge.

I spoke on the phone with William Kittredge to confirm my suspicion that he attended high school in Klamath Falls. He said yes, and that it was his English teacher there who inspired him to dream of becoming a writer.

William Kittredge, Marc Davis, James Ivory, and Chris Eyre all graduated from Klamath Union High School, a track record unmatched by any other Oregon high school, including Lincoln High School (Ernest Haycox, Mel Blanc, Matt Groening), the oldest high school in the state; Catlin Gabel (Gus Van Sant, Eric Edwards, Margaux Hemingway), the richest high school in the state; or Ashland High School (David Fincher), the high school voted most likely to succeed in producing show business oriented graduates.

I hereby claim A River Runs Through It as an Oregon film on the basis of the location shooting on the Rogue, and on the basis of William Kittredge’s contribution as co-producer. Go Pelicans!

Chris Eyre @ Big Sky Film Fest

Anne Richardson — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:04:24 +0000

Chris Eyre, appearing as a guest speaker on the Indigenous Filmmakers Panel at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, Montana.

Here’s a withering mock doc by Sterlin Harjo, which draws on the combined talents of the Indigenous Filmmakers Club, the group which hosted the panel.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The filmmakers warn us: “We do not apologize for any lustful emotions caused by this film. We as filmmakers understand our sexiness and are fully aware of our powerful medicine. Thanks.”