Length: 10:17
Logline: A guy with an angry girlfriend encounters a gang of rowdy youths while waiting for the last train.
This is all tension building with no real payoff. But I think that is the whole point of the film. It's a representation of a scenario many night travellers may have encountered where there is often a lingering nervousness about safety and a strong will to avoid any confrontation. Nine times out of ten, nothing ever happens and that is what we get here too.
Dialogue is naturalistic to Manchester and inner city youths. It is layered with many voices talking at the same time, off screen conversation, and a juxtaposition of contrasting topics with visuals. In other words, people talking over each other really quickly and in a style that is alien to me and hard for me to understand. Andrew Conroy plays the hard done by boyfriend and makes it look easy. Just as some scenes are dialogue heavy, others have none and rely on reaction shots from Conroy. He does a good job of translating our thoughts onto the screen as his character probably wonders the same thing as we do - are these guys going to start on me?
I really liked the lighting in this piece. Very moody, subtle and well thought out. It works well with the high quality camera which has a lot of nice pulled focus shots. For a night shoot, colour still stands out clearly and has excellent contrast against the blacks (the colour not the actors). Sound too, is crisp and clear and handles the layered dialogue well. There is no soundtrack over this. Instead, Schofield allows the sounds of the city, the rumblings of the train station, and the passing traffic to create an effective atmosphere which depending on the audiences feelings can be interpreted as menacing, relieving or whatever.
In a way, I was disappointed not to see the confrontation come to a head. Conroy's last scene in the taxi where he contemplates what has just happened was a little too dull for me and not the strongest conclusion in the world. There's nothing to really learn or take away from the film except some small comfort about not all gangs are going to mug you or beat you up. Though I don't think this film will reassure me next time I'm waiting for the night bus next to a group of pissed-up scumbags somehow.
Best Bit: Plenty of tension.
Worst Bit: Tension never comes to anything.
Final thought: Crap night out then.
Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.
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