
"A revelation! The Guatemalan Handshake holds a place in my heart that is normally reserved for Easter candy."
"Invention and personality to spare! Not to mention marvelous mysteries, quirky connections and cockeyed running gags that Rohal effortlessly weaves into the design of the crazy-quilt comedy."
"One of the coolest and most original indies of the last year."
TWO-DISC SPECIAL EDITION, WITH OVER 2 HOURS OF BONUS FEATURES:
DISC 1: THE MOVIE
• New high-definition digital transfer, director-supervised and approved
• Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
• Director's Commentary, with contributions from the cast and crew
• Ola Podrida music video: "Lost and Found," directed by Todd Rohal and starring Ivan Dimitrov
• Deleted Scenes
DISC 2: THE SUPPLEMENTS
• 10 Moments From the Set of The Guatemalan Handshake: interviews, casting sessions, mini-documentaries, and more behind-the-scenes footage
• 4 Moments From the Road with The Guatemalan Handshake: hilarious and bizarre happenings from the film's theatrical premieres across the United States and overseas
• 6 Short Films, directed by the cast and crew
• PLUS: An all new critical essay by filmmaker David Gordon Green (George Washington, Pineapple Express)
• Package Design by 2008 Academy Award-nominated animator James Braithwaite (I Met the Walrus)
One of Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film,
writer-director Todd Rohal charts strange new cinematic waters with his
madly innovative feature debut, The Guatemalan Handshake. Winner of
Special Jury Prizes at Slamdance and Torino, Rohal's vivacious feast for the
senses "bristles with his anarchic visual language, offbeat humor, ephemeral
sense of narrative, circuitous character sketches, and freewheeling sense of
mirth" (Baltimore City Paper).
In the confusion following a massive power outage in small-town America,
human doormat Donald Turnupseed (actor-musician Will Oldham, Old Joy)
suddenly vanishes, setting in motion a surreal series of events affecting
his hapless father, his pregnant girlfriend, a pack of wild boy scouts, a
lactose-intolerant roller rink employee, an elderly woman in search of her
lost poodle, and his best friend: a ten-year-old girl named Turkeylegs.
Narrated by young Turkeylegs as she pieces together Donald's puzzling
disappearance, Rohal's rural tapestry explodes in unforgettable widescreen
surprises: a woman attends her own funeral, a childhood TV legend leaps from
a cliff, the sun rises sideways, and a bright orange, wedge-shaped electric
car changes hands again and again. Chaotically absurd with an underlying
poignancy, these droll vignettes come crashing together in a climactic
demolition derby that marks the exhilarating debut of an adventurous
storyteller.
• 2007
• 97 Minutes
• Color
• Dolby Digital 5.1/2.0
• 2.35:1 aspect ratio
• In English, with optional subtitles
• NTSC Region All
• Release Date: April 29th, 2008
• UPC: 793573481498
• SRP $29.95

