Saturday, February 27, 2010
SUB-INDEPENDENT
Today's film was Shane Meadows'
This is a small effort with very big impact. A "drama/comedy". I would call it a love story.
Two kids, outsiders, meet and develop a friendship.
One kid is a runaway who has nothing, can't go back. The other kid is a Polish immigrant, son of a worker on the Chunnel. Alone all day.
The immigrant kid smuggles the runaway kid into his apartment. He feeds him. The runaway shows the immigrant kid a thing or two about living on the streets.
There are others.
The immigrant's father. Young. Empathetic. Absent much of the time but kind.
A neighbor who deals in shady merchandise in a small street mart. He hires the kids in a kind of chiseling way. Then befriends them.
A french girl, also an immigrant who the boys get a joint crush on. She is charming with them.
There are a lot of vignettes. They add up.
Everyone has something to add to the mix. Everyone gains from someone else.
These people are not alone. They are, actually, quite rich. They are open, willing to change. They engage with one another. They have all been lonely.
The film is short. One hour. On the face of it, I wanted more time with them. On the other hand, I had more. I had a heart full of experience.
The photography on this project is wonderful to watch. We aren't clubbed over the head with arty shots but the art is there. It is effectively done in black and white with some color thrown in for good measure.
The film won some awards and all but disappeared. A few critics praised loud enough that it exists for us to enjoy on disc. It would be almost impossible to get distribution with a one hour film. Too bad.
I would love to see it again sometime. I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
