‘Rifle’ Carries a Painfully Timely Impact

Without a doubt, “The Delicate Art of the Rifle,” low on budget, high on imagination, is one of the best American independent pictures of the past year or so. Sadly, recent events have made it timelier than ever.

It is amazing how the filmmakers--T. Todd Flinchum, Stephen Grant, D.W. Harper and Alicia Kratzer--manage to wrest fresh, unexpected impact from what is at least the third film inspired by or about Charles Whitman, the University of Texas student who 30 years ago climbed a campus tower and started shooting.

This film’s key figure is David Grant’s Jay, a sweet, nerdy sophomore whose passion is his work as a technician at his university’s superbly equipped theater. (Near the film’s beginning we’re treated to a student fashion show, keyed hilariously to scenes from “Hamlet.”) Some 30 minutes into the film, Jay’s roommate, Walt Whitman (!) (played by Stephen Grant), a campus hero, starts shooting.

The film avoids obvious preaching in its presentation of a mass murder committed by a disturbed youth with clearly easy access to weaponry. Instead, it bristles with dark absurdist humor, and makes stunning metaphorical use of a virus that wipes out every trace of a person’s existence to give the tragedy fresh meaning. The filmmakers, who call themselves the Cambrai Liberation Collective (CLC Films) and are based in Raleigh, N.C., make their debut with this movie. Hopefully, more will follow.

* Unrated. Times guidelines: mass shootings, language, adult themes.

‘The Delicate Art of the Rifle’

David Grant: Jay

Stephen Grant: Walt Whitman

John Kessel: Maxwell T. Boaz

Joy Gewalt: Rachel Porter

A CLC Films presentation. Director D.W. Harper. Producer T. Todd Flinchum. Screenplay by Stephen Grant. Cinematographer Martin Brown. Production designer Alicia Kratzer. Costumes Brenda Pagan. Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes.

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