YELLOWKNIFE - Imagine James Joyce, Roger Waters and Stephen King all get together one day for lunch.

I know that couldn't happen, but bear with me here.

They somehow get on the topic of The L-Word, the hit television show about a group of lesbians in Los Angeles. Perhaps this happens after they take some drugs.

Janet Lane plays Marie March, the central character in The 4th Life. - photo courtesy of Filmgrafix Productions

"They need a little more murder on that show," says Steve thoughtfully.

"We need to tear down the subconscious walls of these ladies. We need more art," says Roger.

"Aye, and then he kills his mother," says James. "The sweet sea rises. Hand me my snotrag."

This is how I like to imagine the idea for the film The 4th Life came to be. It's much more entertaining than thinking of it as the first feature film by the experimental filmmaker Francois Miron. To a lot of people, this guy's a genius. He's won multiple awards and has had his films screened at a number of film festivals.

It seems there is an audience for every kind of film, and unfortunately I happen to have fallen far, far away from the artsy, experimental tree.

The film is a twisted story of obsession, love and crime between two women and the others who happened to get in the way. Through a series of flashbacks and random encounters, the tragic (and twisted) story of Marie March is told from her adolescence to her adulthood.

Having been warned by Chris White at Western Arctic Moving Pictures (WAMP) before I watched it, I was prepared for the opening credits popping up over a couple of minutes of a lesbian makeout session. Be aware, as you shuffle uncomfortably in your seats during these forced, near-pornographic moments, that they don't last through the whole film.

Wait a second. Yeah, they do. The film is peppered with strange flashback scenes of a creepy and/or sexual nature.

The story itself seemed like a decent idea, but the way it is told in the film might lose you if you're not into the artsy-fartsy stuff experimental filmmakers produce. Perhaps you could warm yourself up by reading a few pages of Finnegan's Wake, listening to a Halloween horror tape and hanging out with naked, awkward actresses.

I'm fairly certain the acting was not really intended to be stellar, though. Obvious and cheesy acting can actually add to a nightmarish stream-of-consciousness feel.

If you want to take a peek for yourself and make up your own mind about it, WAMP will screen the film Friday at Northern United Place at 7:30 p.m.

And for the love of God, leave the kids at home.