Length: 05:59
Directed by Stéphan Taineau
Genre: Music Video
Date: 2005
Rating: ★★★★☆
Logline: A distorted narrative to music.
When this first starts you'll be forgiven for thinking this is an amateur attempt at a music video. With a young girl skipping in the park, speed and time are edited to match the beat of the music in a wholly uninteresting and unoriginal way. But wait till the violins kick in and things start to get a bit more fascinating. A love story between a man and a woman starts to unfold but the narration is told in reverse, as is the filmed footage.
This could be one of those films I'm reading way too much into but set to the electronically classical music of Four Tet, the backwards action makes you think you are watching some sort of contemporary ballet as bodies move in unnatural contortions and dance in odd rhythms. Jessica Randell and Neil Johnson play their parts well. No words are spoken but there's a lot of physical emotion being projected by these two. Am not sure what the symbolic or metaphorical meaning of the skipping girl is (if there is one) or whether those shots were just input to break up the action, but she is also used to bookend the short.
The sequence certainly works better shown in reverse than it would do if shown in normal sequence. Camera, lighting and composition are all done to a good standard but it's the special effect that adds that extra layer and depth to the film. The soundtrack is fairly repetitive and makes more for good background music to the visuals than the other way about which I'm not sure is a good thing or not for a music video?
Best Bit: The way the film (probably accidentally) flows well to the music.
Worst Bit: Dodgy crossfades at the start.
Final thought: Wonder what aw that greetin' was aboot then?
Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.
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