sean-1025 This is a fine example of independent film making. The director/writer is not bound by convention. Those critical of photography and other technical "flaws" miss the point. A film can be more than a technical achievement. Though Mr. Ameer does handle the technical aspects admirably and creatively considering resources which were clearly meager. I think the essence of independent film making lies more in a director following a vision. The story is daring and reflect a fearlessness in Mr. Ameers' approach. I have spent countless hours watching movies that I've forgotten the next day, but for it's flaws and successes and the conversation it has inspired I would recommend this film to anyone with an interest in film that goes deeper than big budget excitement and gloss.

gradyharp Writer/director Jorge Ameer may just be another edgy filmmaker waiting for larger budgets to set his ideas afire (think Gus van Sant, Gregg Araki, etc). Reading all the comments and reactions to this film is fairly good evidence that he is a controversial filmmaker - and that will probably work in his favor. He has technical problems with his product: the dialogue, which is really fairly good when it can be heard, is drowned out by ocean waves, dogs barking, street sounds, and the worst pastiche of heart-tugging micro-excerpts from classical music (Adagio from Mahler's 5th, Albinoni, Tchaikovsky ad infinitum); he fails to adequately introduce his characters' motivation which would further the storyline; he opts for some pretty cheap effects borrowed from the archives of WW II.But given all that, THE SINGING FOREST has good thoughts about reincarnation, a stable cast some of whom show real promise, and an overall feeling of commitment that is so often lacking in these startup movies.Christopher Hayes (Jon Sherrin) is an alcoholic man in mourning for his lost wife, who decides to attend the wedding of his daughter Destiny (Erin Leigh Price) and upon meeting her fiancé Ben (Craig Pinkston, eye candy in looks and with signs he just may become a good screen actor with some body language training). Christopher has met with a psychic Elvia (Toni Zobel) who has confirmed his thoughts that he is a reincarnated spirit of a lad named Jo who while protecting the Jews from the Nazis in WW II fell in love with a lad named Alexander: they both died in the war. When Christopher meets Ben he immediately knows that Ben is the reincarnation of Alexander. Destiny is a hard working girl, giving Christopher and Ben sufficient time together to talk, get loaded on drugs and alcohol, and act out on their hidden sexuality. Many confrontations occur, some including Destiny's discovery of the two men en flagrante, the psychic is re-consulted and the concept of reincarnation and the questions of reality/fantasy/fiction/illusion are addressed. The ending is a bit abrupt but the point is made.Many subplots are touched upon (a rape scene that has more significance than we are allowed to understand, adequate exploration of the father/daughter relationship or the childhood histories of Christopher and Ben) and it is obvious that budget restraints prevented development of points that should have been clarified. But Both Pinkston and Price prove promising talent that needs developing.Accompanying the film are several shorts that, while crude in nature, are funny and irreverent and again show some clever thoughts underdeveloped. In all, for a first film this is not a bad outing - if only there were some way to Dolby out all the background noise so we could actually hear the story Ameer is trying so hard to tell! Grady Harp

Frank Bailey There is deep meaning to this film. I watched it the other day and found it to be thought provoking and very profound. There were some production problems, I guess for its low budget, but all in all, I really liked this movie. I specially loved the music. I can't wait to see what the director comes up with next. You can tell he has a lot of talent and originality. Making reference to the gay holocaust is something that I found to be refreshing and have not seen in any other film since "Bent" which I loved. The moving back and forth within time periods was effective. The actors did a descent job. I'd like to see more work from Craig Pinkston. I read all of the bad reviews on this site. I think most here are too focused on the production values of the film rather than the message.

fordraff This film reminds me of the gay porn movies I saw in the early and mid-70s in Manhattan at such places as the Park Miller Theatre. In those pre-video, pre-DVD days--those early days of gay porn films--the films had a narrative line so that the exhibitors, if arrested for showing obscene films, could resist conviction claiming the films had "redeeming social value." Thus, those early gay porn films often focused on problems boys had with prison officials, school principals, other authority figures, etc. Inevitably, there came a moment in the plot when everyone got naked and had hard-core sex."The Singing Forest" has the same plot structure, the same poor production values of these early gay porn films, the same inept acting those porn "stars" provided, the same bad lighting, sets, and sound.The story here focuses on Christopher Hayes, a columnist for a magazine or newspaper, who appears to have a major drinking problem. He hasn't seen his daughter, Destiny, since she graduated from college some years ago.Time out here: Christopher "met" Destiny's mom, Savannah, when he raped her after following her as she walked home from the library! Savannah became pregnant with Destiny because of the rape. But she still married Christopher and, we're supposed to believe, lived happily with him and her daughter until her early death.Now Destiny is about to marry Ben Ross, so Christopher is going to the wedding. He will be staying with the couple at their home before the nuptials.Christopher believes that he is the reincarnation of a former self who was executed in 1933 by the Nazis. Back in that former life, Christopher was a gay man, whose lover, Alexander, was also executed.When Christopher gets to his daughter's place, he immediately thinks that her fiancé, Ben Ross, is his former lover Alexander, reincarnated! The plot is a hoot from beginning to end and makes no sense. Just as in those early gay porn films, if a woman was present, she had to be off the scene most of the time. Here Destiny is always at work, so she is not home when drunken Ben returns from his bachelor party and falls into bed naked with Christopher, who is already in bed and naked. Of course, Christopher turns over and begins to make love to Ben. Now in the gay porn flicks of yesteryear, we would have seen the explicit footage. Here there's a fade out.And the next morning we actually have that old dodge: Ben asking, "How did I get here in this bed? Why am I naked? I was so drunk I can't remember a thing." Ha! Not only does Ben have to be drunk to have homosex, he also has to be reincarnated, as does Christopher.There are other opportunities for Christopher and Ben to be in bed naked while Destiny is at work (is that a pun?). We have unintentionally hilarious lines like Jon Sherrin as Christopher trying his best to be confused and hesitant at the same time as he mutters, "Uh--here I am--I can't believe it--in bed with my soon-to-be son-in-law." That sounds like a line Rock Hudson would have needed 35 takes to get right.And Craig Pinkston as Ben can say, "I'm not some crazy ghost from your past. I'm from Des Moines." And you can imagine the many howlers that arise because of Destiny's name.The director doesn't realize he's making a motion picture since virtually all of the scenes are static, showing the actors speaking dialogue such as no actual people would naturally say. The actors are sitting on the couch in the living room, at the kitchen table, on a bed, on the rocks by the sea--but they are sitting, not moving. The locations appear to be actual bedrooms, kitchens, and living rooms in low-rent apartments.Although the film is listed as having a 93-minute running time, it actually runs just 62 minutes, followed by 7 minutes of slow-crawling credits. It just seems like--well, 93 hours.