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“Campbell Walker’s closely observed account of a young woman dealing ambiguously with phone harassment from a former boyfriend is virtually a pas de deux for camera and actress. Nia Robyn, best known for her work in Walker’s previous feature Uncomfortable Comfortable, possesses an uncanny, active intelligence on screen. The play of thought and feeling on her alert, fine-featured face commands the camera in an entirely naturalistic fashion. Here she suggests inner resources to match and reward Walker’s relentless scrutiny. Watching, for example, as she listens, hungover, to a series of drunken messages left the night before, you might feel you share every sensation of her amazement and dismay. Shot over five days in 1999, involving several more performers than made the final cut, the film was created in a no-budget environment so loose and improvisational that the camera style verges on documentary. Walker has worked on several other people’s films during the three years he’s taken to become an editor and locate the heart of fiction in his improvised footage.”
http://www.artscalendar.co.nz
“Why Can't I Stop This Uncontrollable Dancing is a new film from Gordon Productions about the distances between people and the ways which they try to connect with each other. The film revolves around Leah and Terry, old friends who haven't heard from each other for some time. One morning Terry calls Leah and starts a conversation that just won't finish. The calls keep coming and become progressively less pleasant. It is clear that Terry wants something but it isn't at all clear what. Directed by Campbell Walker, the film is an intense, minimalist drama, filmed in a deceptively simple style. The accent is placed clearly upon capturing the naturalistic rhythms of everyday life and creating room to build the characters as complex, unpredictable people. Like previous Gordon Productions Uncomfortable Comfortable (1999, directed by Walker), Shifter (2000, directed by Colin Hodson) and Off (2002, also directed by Hodson)... Uncontrollable Dancing shows us clearly recognisable parts of life in New Zealand, with a closeness we aren't used to seeing in New Zealand films.
Originally shot over an intense five-day period in December 1999 the film has taken nearly four years to complete and has been entirely self-funded. Why Can't I Stop This Uncontrollable Dancing was based on real events in the life of lead actor Nia Robyn, who plays Leah, and then developed using a further refinement of the script-free approach of the previous Gordon Productions.
It features an original soundtrack by New York based avant garde guitar legend Loren Connors, who was so impressed by a rough cut sent to him by Walker that he agreed to score the film. His contribution, like all the cast and crew's, was given gratis, based on the belief in the film and the lo-fi philosophy inherent in this style of film making. Why Can't I Stop This Uncontrollable Dancing is one of the most original and quietly compelling films to be released in New Zealand this year.” http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories