By Johnny Donaldson

Collegian Staff

‘Nosey Parker’

The Northampton International Film Festival

Nov. 5

Academy of Music

Northampton

The ninth annual Northampton Independent Film Festival kicked off Wednesday night with a screening of the Vermont-set indie comedy “Nosey Parker.” The movie is the third in director John O’Brien’s “Vermont Trilogy,” which began with 1992’s “Vermont is For Lovers” and continued into 1996’s “A Man With A Plan.”

O’Brien’s films are set in quiet, rustic Vermont towns, the kinds of places that explode with a smear of red and yellow in the fall, and the locals live simple, unpretentious lives. Which is exactly what drives young photographer Natalie (Natalie Picoe) and her older, wealthy psychiatrist husband (Richard Snee) to buy a large, expensive converted barn in the painter-ly town of Turnbridge.

Natalie has fallen in love with the bucolic charms of the local village and the local environment – the fire-colored leaves that illuminate the fall, the lack of traffic or sprawl, the fact that the town’s church comes complete with a white steeple.

But she is troubled. A former therapy patient, Natalie hears her biological clock ticking but can’t get her husband – a gruff, clinical man with two grown children of his own – to agree to have more children. Natalie wafts around their lovely pastoral home in a saddened funk … until local tax assessor George Lydon (played by George Lydon) stops by on a business call.

George is a genial, fast-witted elderly man, and Natalie finds him to be interesting. He’s smart, funny and a good listener and Natalie hires him to help around the house. The two become fast friends, to Richard’s mounting jealousy.

“Nosey Parker” – the name comes from the local slang for being unduly interested in nosing around people’s lives – is a gentle, unforced comedy that ambles along a shuffling pace. For anyone who has lived in New England – particularly those who have experienced a life in Vermont, New Hampshire and Western Massachusetts – the movie perfectly captures the easy-going feel of a quiet New England town. O’Brien has obvious affection for his town and his characters, and his care is palpable in his loving treatment of the area. He captures nicely naturalistic performances from the cast, notably the lovely Picoe and Lydon, and he was smart to frame his story with a documentary feel without resorting to the now cheap and overused mock-documentary format. The movie’s placid realism and hovering camera gives you the feeling of being right there with the characters, and David Parry’s lovely cinematography gives the film a postcard pretty sheen. The only faults are the movie’s few dry spots and the cardboard in which the story is wrapped up in the end.

“The Winter People,” a 14-minute short shot on Cape Cod by filmmaker John Stimpson, preceded “Nosey Parker.” This eerie, spooky film tells the story of a divorcee and her daughter returning to their beach house one last time to close it for the winter. The daughter has heard stories of ghosts – or “winter people” – living there in the off months and begins to see signs that people have indeed lived there. Looking like a very professionally made film – the icy cinematography and musical score are Hollywood slick – “The Winter People” suggest a bright future ahead for Stimpson, who keeps the chilling aura humming along until a misguided final shot the breaks his Twilight Zone spell.