Length: 07:40
Written & directed by Unknown.
Genre: Drama
Date: 2011
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Logline: A drifting business man finds wonderment in a discarded balloon.
How lucky am I, to find two films in one week where absolutely f-all happens in them? I struggled to find any information of the filmmaker(s) on this one, other than it's student film from Keele University. I've never heard of the place but it looks quite nice.
You have to read the description that comes along with the upload to fully become aware of what was trying to be achieved here. Unfortunately, the added knowledge only serves to undermine the lack of accomplishment. The idea to portray the city as a cold, grey and undesirable place where the protagonist cannot find true happiness is weakened by the sweet smile he has on his face most of the time. Plus it's a really nice day, folk are out enjoying the sun in the park. The foundations of the story and character are too invisible to allow an audience to clearly grasp the internal conflict. The guy looks like he's having a relaxed day out, not suffering the harassed inner city lifestyle the filmmaker wants to show us. The only real attempt to deliver this is the 'man standing still while the world around him is sped up' shot. We all know what that means because we've seen it a hundred times before. Add to that, the poly bag floating about American Beauty-style and the audience probably gets it.
There's some nice shots, straightforward editing and the soundtrack is fitting but all get swallowed up by the mixed messages we get between what's been written about the film and what is actually shown. The lack of change in the protagonist (not a qualified actor I'm guessing due to the stroking of chin and raising of eyebrows to signify he's had an idea) provides no real arc and there's not enough acting or even action for an audience to identify with the character in much way. This is just another man walking about not doing anything film which doesn't flesh out the original idea enough to actively engage an audience.
Best Bit: Handsome man.
Worst Bit: The overindulgent symbolism.
Final thought: The four minutes of black screen at the end was possibly the highlight.
Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.
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