Ivans XTC (DVD)

When people speak of films being powerful they are speaking of films like IvansXTC. British director Bernard Rose, best known for the lushly effective horror Candyman and Immortal Beloved, moved to Hollywood and clearly did not have a good time. IvansXTC feels like guerrilla filmmaking. Shot on digital video it has a grainy, sometimes shaky feel, like Lar von Trier and co.'s Dogme films. Based loosely on Tolstoy's 'The Death of Ivan Ilych', the film concerns itself with Danny Huston's shallow, coke-snorting, goodtime Hollywood agent Ivan Beckman, and his coming to terms with discovering he has cancer. Surrounding him are those he cannot confide in and ...