Length: 12:54
Logline: Music by Cinematic Orchestra against a romantic tragedy.
A touching piece starring yon Scottish actor that turns up in everything a bit under the radar Peter Mullan and done the rounds TV actress Julia Ford. Two people who know their stuff in other words. And they both do a sterling job. Mullan having to humph his love around on his back a lot and Ford having her head dunked into a flowing river. All to great effect, considering there is no lines of dialogue to be uttered. The lyrics of the soundtrack do most of the leg work there.
A slow paced story but you'll be quick to guess that carrying someone across a field in a hospital gown isn't going to end up with a happy ending. The decisive mid point is the deliberation of the assisted death and this is also the cue for a second evocative track to begin. I found the second half lulled for a while with the burning letters sequence which I guessed could have been so long to allow for the crescendo of the track which signifies another turning point in the story. Obviously, the first half has more emotional resonance as the two characters have more interaction with each other. The second half slightly suffers once this has gone. The end scene, thought beautifully done, wasn't as powerful as the assisted death scene.
As expected, this is a high end production which reeks with quality. For me, the viewing of this was hampered by random choppy playback which I was unable to resolve. (Cries of 'is it the video or is it me computer?' were heard) And for all this films cinematic quality, full screen playback didn't do it for me either. Low resolution or something??? I dunno. Hopefully, y'all will have better luck when you watch it.
Still a very powerful film, beautifully shot and performed both character wise and music wise.
Best Bit: Sound track, undoubtedly.
Worst Bit: Poor playback.
Final thought: Then what? Leave her in the river?
Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.
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