Kindling

Maybe it was more powerful because I was familiar with it beforehand.

I found it gripping. Compelling. I wanted to hear every word. I wanted to see and take in every scene from a photographic impact point of view. Both from the scenes value to the whole and its visual affect on my consciousness and emotions. Also as one whose whole life has been concerned with imagery. My early years were comics , were about stories in pictures , about visual impact and few words.

Interestingly from that point of view it was very powerful. I suspect without sound it would still work and the message would still be there. Then obviously silent movies had to have impact and get the story across , to keep you interested.

Kindling kept me glued to the screen in a trance.

Was it because I have had two near misses recently ? They say a cat has 9 lives and I have lost many including

Surviving Meningitis , leukaemia and Heart Attack.

So maybe it meant more to me than others.

You can safely be sure that it was a Film I totally related to from that point of view.

Then there is the loss of loved ones. I believe we live on in everyone we have ever met and shared time with. And they live on in us.

An unusual perspective on male emotion, Kindling is sensitively written, sympathetically directed and beautifully shot, with some excellent performances.

We follow the characters though a short summer and we are shown their depth and development as they come to terms with the sad reality of their loved one imminent passing.

The actors put in performances that show they really believe in the story this film is telling, so it is unfair to pick any individual out for praise, as they are all deserving.

And hats off to the young director, Connor O'Hara, who shines a light on this often hidden subject.

I defy you not to be moved by this thoughtful film.

Kindling 2023. It's great to go to the cinema, watching a well made movie when it's a riveting exciting story, it is a great form of escapism. Sometime the film doesn't even have to be exciting, but interesting to make it thought provoking or a challenge. This film was neither.

What's even better is when your given a free ticket (thanks sis), so by default I didn't spend any money on the movie. Although I did go have a couple of beers, a gherkin and a pickled egg with my mate John afterwards (all true) so it wasn't all bad.

What of the film I hear you cry, the premise is quite simple a group of five friends who reunite to spend one last summer before one of their group dies. That's it really, think of every film about people with a terminal disease well all the cliché's are here. Well this film is maudlin in its delivery and what is aimed to be a celebration of Sid the central character becomes a long drawn out cliché of a hearse of a movie . 5/10.

"Sid" (George Somner) has had a terminal diagnosis and in light of this news, assembles four of his lifelong friends so they can all see him off in style. He's still perfectly mobile and so decides that he wants each of them to bring something that connects them and him to an almighty bonfire they will build so they can give love, friendship, family, setting and home all a baptism of fire. His plan is to ensure that this provides the ultimate memorial and it's as they set about this task that we discover what really makes these lads tick and take a look at just why their bond is so strong. Obviously, tensions and emotions are running high not just with his pals, but his parents Geoff Bell and Tara Fitzgerald are also having to deal with a man, not a boy, who is determined not to just sit indoors and wait. Things become even more complicated when he meets "Lily" (Mia McKenna-Bruce). There's an hint of romance but he decides to try to keep it secret from his friends and maybe his best pal "Diggs" (Wilson Mbimio) takes that hardest. In the end, though, the question of whether the group will emerge intact at their conflagration isn't really in doubt. Indeed, jeopardy isn't really the point here. It's a poignant exposition of male behaviour that demonstrates that men can have solid and enduring relationships with each other. They can be just as possessive, jealous and irrational as so many chick-flicks have shown us over the years, and there's something really quite honest about that, here. Somner delivers engagingly as does Mbimio and Bell as his troubled but stoic-minded dad and the story moves solidly along. There aren't many contemporary movies where men say "I love you" and it not make me grimace. Here - well it worked.

Kindling

What a refreshing change, to see a film tackling a sad but very real issue that many of us will cross swords with at some point in our lives.

It opens a window on a small group of family and freinds, one of whom has a terminal illness, it never focuses on a single person but we are allowed to see how this impacts on everyone in their own way.

It's a first time out for this production team and yes, there are some things that could have been slightly different or the odd tweek here and there. The important thing is to "watch this space", thankfully they aren't going away and personally I'm looking forward to seeing much more of this realistic film making, telling life stories with tact and dignity. Thank you Lowkey Films, we want more!