Festival after festival, Eric Byler’s Charlotte Sometimes knocked audiences on their a*s with its psychological love story that allows characters to develop more through their actions than their words. Actually, dialogue is rather minimal here, but that doesn’t keep Charlotte from being completely involving all the time.
If the subtleties of Byler’s film escaped some of you, then here’s your chance to play catch up with the rest of the class through the special features found on this disc. Eric Byler appears on two different running commentaries, each one with a different pair of actors – Michael Idemoto, Eugenia Yuan and Jacqueline Kim, Matt Westmore. Breaking the leading cast into two separate commentaries definitely works here as everyone has their own stories to tell about the production and this way, there isn’t a bunch of people tripping over each other trying to speak their mind. Most interesting to listen to, however, is Eric Byler on both tracks as he dissects his own story and characters and reveals behind the scenes dirt on the production.
Also included on the disc, along with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews, is a Q&A led by Roger Ebert with Eric Byler, Michael Idemoto, Jacqueline Kim and producer Marc Ambrose, further dissecting the mysterious film. You also get to see a couple of the cast members smile. It doesn’t happen too often in the movie, so it’s nice to see these attractive people’s faces aren’t broken. It’s a thoroughly entertaining and informative discussion that’s a must see for the many fans of the film. I know you’re out there and you are many.
