The opening scene, of a post screening discussion on a bunch of short films, sets the tone for Travis Wood and Alex Mallis’ The Travel Companion. There’s the conceited moderator trying to sound knowledgeable by asking a filmmaker about how she distils the human condition and gives it a personal touch in her documentary. She replies, equally pompously, about a janitor inspiring her to take a peep into the ideas of class and privilege. The talk of cameras and framing, discourse and politics, is peak pretense profundity, as hilarious as it would be relatable for the aspiring filmmakers and other audience.
One of the filmmakers in the group, Simon (Tristan Turner), never gets a shot at taking the questions with the discussion cut short just before his turn. He lives in New York with friend and flatmate Bruce (Anthony Oberbeck). As someone working for an airline, Bruce gets travel companion benefits, availed by Simon. He gets to travel for free which helps him in amassing footage for an ambitious but obscure documentary on “humanity”, “a eulogy for lost history”. Can Bruce's gift keep giving, especially in the face of the budding romance between Bruce and a fellow filmmaker Beatrice (Naomi Assa)? Will Simon still be able to go to Amsterdam, Rotterdam as planned, or not?
The film pivots on the universe of three and the actors, Turner, Oberbeck and Assa are perfect in their give and take with each other. Turner is especially superb with his half smiles, amused look and impassive bearing. The writing credited to Mallis, Wood, and Weston Auburn, ensures that each character, however minor, stands out. Like the kooky Indian taxi driver who firmly believes in passive income powering his American Dream. Wood and Mallis are sarcastic yet affectionate in casting their gaze on this world of independent filmmaking that they themselves inhabit. The narrative brims over with self-reflexive humour and is driven by a lot of incessant chatter, at times sounding pointless and vacuous, but funny and felt, nonetheless. There’s something delightfully real in hearing about “finding the film on the edit table” or a festival programmer talking about how they take premiere status seriously.
It's in this respect that The Travel Companion, that premiered in Tribeca and now finding a limited release, reminded me a lot of Amit Masurkar’s Sulemani Keeda (2013), also about two struggling indie filmmakers and a girl. Both funny. Both unassuming in their inventiveness. Both about filmmaking on the fringes of Hollywood/Bollywood, one set in New York, other in Mumbai’s Versova. Most significantly, both are also equally about failures and self-doubts. Simon keeps wondering if it’s wiser to stay in NY or head to Los Angeles. There’s something poignant in the moment when he talks about filmmaking being all about waiting, be it for money, validation or even ideas. The hustle can break you as could the compromises you make to stay afloat.
The balance of fun and feeling is wonderfully negotiated with giggles making way for some tugging of the heartstrings as Wood and Mallis examine the perils of creative aspirations and overreach and of urban relationships in the state of flux. Love threatens to destroy a friendship that is just as riddled with jealousy and insecurities as a romantic liaison is supposed to. Most so is the niggling, uncomfortable realisation that time and people move on while the issues between them may stay forever unresolved. The film comes a full circle bookended as it is by pretentious post screening discussions. Simon is appreciated for his work that "asks complex questions while being grounded in the sense of intimacy and relatability". He finally has his say. And hope floats.
