INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE plays Hot Docs

INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE will play a one week run at TIFF Bell Lightbox from May 25th to May 31st. Tickets and info can be found here.

The film will be touring screens throughout the summer around the world. Full info on a showing near you can be found here.

What follows is my reaction from the film’s Canadian premiere at Hot Docs in May – RM

As my screening of this film ended, a fellow movie lover described the best videos games as “the most fun one can have being frustrated”. It’s a good thing we’re enjoying our frustration, because I’m not sure I can say the same for those who design the games we play and love.

INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE follows the developers of three independent video games – a new brand of starving artist for the new millennium. We hear from Jonathan Blow about his experience with the completed (and highly successful) “Braid”. We meet Phil Fish, who has become a lightning rod of hype thanks to glimpses of his work-in-progress “Fez”. And we spend a lot of time with the team of Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes as they push hard to complete “Super Meat Boy”.

INDIE GAME is dripping with dark humour and great sympathy. As we watch these people struggle to complete their work, release it to the masses and hopefully get it to catch on, we sometimes have to wonder why they do it? As indie gamers, there is no money in it for them until everything is done, and as companies unto themselves, there’s no safety net. Thus not only do they feel the strain of the job like every other gaming developer, but they also feel the weight of the entire project pushing down on them.

What’s fascinating about INDIE GAME is where it picks up McMillen, Refenes, and Fish. In the case of both games, hype has built for the product, and the pressure is on to complete the work. Thus, for all three of these young men, we are seeing them at their worst. This means a truly depressed Refenes, a moody and often angry Fish, and a worried & nervous McMillen. They are like any artist that is so close to handing over the finished project, but their situation is unique in the way they find themselves devoid of much happiness at this late stage.

Fortunately, there is happiness to be had in INDIE GAME. It comes specifically from watching these three gamers seeing others playing their game and getting a dose of the joy those people get from it. It ends up feeling like a painter unveiling their work at a gallery – but far more interactive. In a strange sense, it’s the gaming equivalent of applause.

Like several other forms of expression that have evolved in the new century, independent gaming is a highly personal art form. As Jonathan Blow points out within the film, what’s wonderful about an art form so personal is that it has flaws and vulnerabilities. The temptation might be there to wipe everything down and hand over a clean product, but that wouldn’t nearly have as much character…or be as much fun.

The documentary is a testament to the delicacy of their work and of their psyches. It’s the story of a new generation of Lost Boys trying to relive and extend their youth under the guise of responsible adults. Simply put, INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE is a truly emotional and poetic look at the art of gaming and the artists who endure it.