Hi Charlotte here for my final MARVELLOUS MONDAY MOVIE! https://vimeo/110066719 Straw in the Wind written and directed by James Callow, a Somerset lad! Made and shot in Somerset, it’s one of those great shorts as it’s so well written, directed, shot and acted. A perfect short! The landscape of the Somerset moors is made more atmospheric as the footage was de-saturated in camera and some in post, which gives it a bleak and beautiful look. The old man lives on the moors next to a peat extraction farm (a few families still have licenses to dig out the 3000 year old soil called peat). The black peat comes from the decaying reeds and in the opening shot you see a tall dark mound of it, ominous in the background. The landscape in this film is integral to the story as it seems to have a its own character, with the feel and influence of Andrei Tarkovsky’s films (‘Stalker is a favorite of James) where both humans and their surroundings come together to inhabit a strange and magical world. Our old man lives amongst the soil, water and reeds and the chair itself is made from the natural willow that grows around him. He gives the chair power by giving it character - and knows it as his ‘old ass-bucket’. I love that line, listen out for it! He tries various ways of getting rid of it, but fails. Finally he buries the chair, giving it back the the earth where it came from. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Its funny too- as well as strange! Thanks again to Echo Park Film Centre and Kate Lain for asking me to curate November- its been a pleasure!
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 00:05:47 +0000
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