Dan's Motel
Off the California Coast Highway stands the isolated, tacky and romantic Dan's Motel--three stories plus prologue. Jerry Barrish's first feature film is a quirky, surprising compendium of short narratives “in the style of The Great American Short Story”; that is, with a beginning, a middle and an end, in that order. This low-budget wonder was shot by Barrish, a San Francisco bail bondsman by occupation, in four weekends...over three years. Dan's Motel, described as a last refuge for disintegrating lives, provides a soothing and sympathetic haven for its lonely guests: a gangster-poet who holes up in his room, his only outside contact being his handicapped sidekick and a prostitute who makes housecalls; a young woman whose first active choice in life is to commit suicide; a stand-up comedian and a singer-songwriter. Barrish favors static shots, sudden contrasts and bright colors. His film, thoughtfully, beautifully shot, reveals his artistic past as a sculptor as much as his current profession as a bail bondsman--with a stint and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the San Francisco Art Institute in between.