The Salton Sea
Posted In: Action, addict, Blood, Blood Splatter, Boyfriend Girlfriend Relations, Brutality, Cocaine, corrupt, Death, Drama, Drug, Explosion, Female Nudity, Flashback, Gun, Horror, house party, Husband Wife Relationship, Love, movie, Murder, narko, noir film, online, Police, speed, val kilmer, Violence
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The imagery of The Salton Sea surpasses standard noir. It’s a tale of a desolate man lost in an abyss of emotional turmoil, desperately seeking redemption and revenge against unknown assailants. The film’s opening shot of Val Kilmer, sitting on a barren floor surrounded by flames as he pours Miles Davis through his trumpet, delivers both the physical heat of the flames and the fiery, emotional pain of loss locked within his eyes. It’s a haunting and eerily tragic moment of humanity displayed at its weakest point of existence.
The story of The Salton Sea is constructed as an updated version of a 1940s noir film. Expertly written by Tony Gayton, the film opens up with a brief history of speed, a crash course complete with 1950s housewives and Japanese kamikaze pilots. Then, the camera quickly navigates through a crazed house party and lands next to a heavily tattooed Kilmer, sitting amongst speed freaks on a four-day binge. Or maybe it’s been three days. With a strong voiceover delivered by Kilmer, we learn about the double life he leads. One life is an addict and police informant known as Danny Parker, complete with numerous tats, leather pants, and skull rings on every finger. And another one, locked in his closet, is a trumpeter named Tom Van Allen, whose wife ended up dead years ago at the hands of masked men during a rest stop robbery while vacationing at the Salton Sea.
