Difficult past resurfaces in daring ‘Mad Song’

David Roy’s dazzling stream-of-consciousness “Mad Song” flies boldly in the face of conventional wisdom as to what a first film should be.

Instead of a genre movie-industry calling card, Roy has made a venturesome and effective film. He evokes with visual surrealism the psychological state of a beautiful woman, successful in her professional and personal lives, who is thrown into unexpected trauma by the death of her father.

The film takes inspiration from the Henry James novella “The Jolly Corner” and the William Blake poem that provided the film’s title. Roy and his protean cinematographer Scott Dale, a master of light and shadow in creating eerie, ominous moods, flood a straightforward narrative with fragmented images representing painful childhood memories sweeping over Kandeyce Jorden’s Dr. Tessa Crystal, a popular talk radio therapist. The result is a mystery that unfolds entirely within Tessa’s mind.

A coolly elegant brunet with enviable bone structure, Tessa would seem to be a have-it-all type. She lives in a spacious, coldly tasteful home with a handsome and supportive radiologist husband (Richard Ruyle) and a sweet, dutiful daughter (Alessandra Toreson).

The therapist has repressed a devastating series of events in her own childhood and has developed a hard-nosed response to her listeners who call in for advice. She signs off her program saying, “Stay tuned to your inner voice and hear what it tells you,” advice she does not follow.

Just as Tessa struggles with the pain of memory, her inner turmoil is intensified by the challenge of a dying man (Robert Arce) who refused to let her brush him aside when he called in for help.

A lifelong friend of hers has also appeared (Marc Marosi), a cocky music business wheeler-dealer. He has an undying yen for her and one of his clients, a fast-rising young goth singer (Collette O’Connell) who has an upcoming tour -- as well as a drug problem he hopes to talk Tessa into treating.

The singer talks to Tessa about her own fragile mother, and Tessa realizes she herself has become like a bird caged by the past. Filmmaker Roy has us consider the possibility that the truth that can set us free also has the capacity to destroy us.

“Mad Song” includes a series of carefully chosen, evocative locales in the Los Angeles area. Its cast has been chosen with equal care, and it’s hard to imagine starrier names turning in more expertly shaded portrayals.

The film’s beguiling look and shifting moods have been enriched by Steven Argila’s shimmering score and the multi-octave voices of Elin Carlson, Erin Mackey and Erinn Williams.

“Mad Song” screens daily only at 10:30 a.m. and midnight, but those with a taste for venturesome filmmaking will be rewarded.

*

‘Mad Song’

MPAA rating: unrated

Times guidelines: complex adult themes

Kandeyce Jorden...Tessa Crystal

Robert Arce...Shep

Richard Ruyle...Phil Blake

Marc Marosi...John Hart

Collette O’Connell...Dawn/Nadine

An Altering Eye Pictures presentation. Writer-director-editor-visual designer David Roy. Producers Steven L. Cross, Ric Eisman. Executive producers Jay S. Hoffman, Dulce Olivia Hoffman. Cinematographer Scott Dale. Composer Steven Argila. Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes.

Exclusively at the Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 848-3500.