Director Jake Wachtel’s “The Sentry” short plays June 2-7 at SXSW London, followed by Raindance (6/18-6/27) and the Palm Springs Shortsfest (6/24-6/30). The film is a look at a secret agent in action in Cambodia. The director/writer of this refreshing genre-bending film is Jake Wachtel. Wachtel moved to Cambodia in 2015 to teach filmmaking for a year via Filmmakers Without Borders. He now is headquartered in Phnom Penh and released a 2022 Buddhist science fiction film, “Karmalink” (1 hour and 41 minutes) that was one of the opening films for the Venice Film Festival.
Notes say that some of Wachtel’s students from his original filmmaking course appear in his films. Among his producers are Sok Visal, who founded 802 Films and the record label Klap Ya Handz, part of the recovery of the arts from the days of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Director of Photography Erik Brondbo and company worked wonders with the visual effects of a dead guy coming back to life and giving his killer an opportunity to reflect.
VIOLENCE ON FILM
Mixed with the usual karate-style knock-‘em sock-em scene comes a comedy short with a serious theme buried beneath the laughs. It has always bothered me that films glorify the death(s) of multiple victims. The implication is that we should glorify this violence, too. I liked the fact that, by the end of this 17-minute film, Agent Blackwood looks like he has developed a conscience. Killing people is such a waste. Tearing down things is much easier than building them up. When you actually take a human life, that is not an act to be glorified—it should be condemned.
But the movies don’t always see it that way. And yes, I understand that it is dramatic. Those of us sitting on our couch watching a streaming service or paying our money to watch “Mission Impossible” films expect there to be violence and death.
DANIEL RAYMONT
Daniel Raymont.
But I do appreciate less violence and more humor. The lead of “The Sentry” has made a career out of playing dark comedic roles. Lead actor Daniel Raymont appeared as the cab driver opposite Robin Williams and Mila Kunis in the 2014 film “The Angriest Man in Brooklyn,” where he portrayed an Uzbek cab driver. Raymont has also been in “The Mosquito Coast,” “They Came At Night,” “Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt,” “Bull,” “Rough Night” (opposite Paul W. Downs who is Jimmy on “Hacks” and co-wrote that film, which also starred Scarlett Johannson), “The Babyman,” and “Buzz Kill.”
In other words, this son of a Texas-born mother and a German/Argentinian father has been around—literally and figuratively speaking. Raymont currently splits his time between New York City and Mexico City. He has also lived in Washington, D.C., London, Maine, Boston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
You know he’s an unusually versatile performer when the “trivia” portion of his IMDB entry says: “Daniel has a degree in Anthropology and spent time living with the Lacandon Maya in Chiapas, Mexico.” His impressive command of accents emphasizes that he is a Renaissance Man for All Seasons.
Daniel has a wild head of hair. He seems too old to be killing people using the martial arts (born in 1969—but let’s not forget that Liam Neeson is still at it), but he has the right comic demeanor for this part. His mastery of accents and languages is impressive.
Maxim tends to Alanna. After the 3 minutes where Secret Agent Blackwood (Raymont) kills two guards at a remote Cambodian outpost, we see him gradually develop a conscience about the fact that he has just killed two guards.
CAST
One of the guards is Termite (Phang Dora)). In a ghostlike re-emergence, he comes back from the grave and negotiates a deal with Blackwood. The terms? Quit boring the agent with non-stop stories about his family in exchange for $15,000 cash to be paid to his widow. Pay Termite’s wife, and he’ll leave Blackwood alone. It’s a strange plot—but somehow, it works.
I had no difficulty believing that Termite is riding on the back of Agent Blackwood’s motorcycle. He bores the bejesus out of him about his sick wife, his overbearing sister-in-law, his two kids, and the ice cream jingle stuck in his head and theirs.
Agent Blackwood offers Termite money to go away and leave him alone. [I honestly felt that Termite quit the negotiation process too soon, or he could have extorted more money from Agent Blackwood.]
TEARING DOWN VS BUILDING UP
The different thing about this short is that my point-of-view about how tearing things down (and killing people) perhaps should not be glorified is put out there for thoughtful reflection. No, we won’t go without our action fight scenes and obligatory deaths.
But could a lead character once in a while experience a moment of true remorse?
It’s really a shame that film, in general, doesn’t give equal time to building things up and advocate more for NOT killing fellow humans.
I enjoyed this short and will look for more from this team.