What a treat it was to see Brett Harvey go far in this assertively directed, thoughtfully constructed and surprisingly humorous tale of an estranged father attempting to impress his daughter with unwelcome musical factoids.
It was surreal to see Glasney View on film; then, the film took it one step further by showing a scene within the accommodation, and even a scene in the SoFT (School of Film and Television) building. Boy, all the memories came flooding back. What a smile it put on my face. All it needed was a Mark Douglas cameo!
Great performances all around. I really appreciated the simple camerawork, as most dialogue scenes were captured in either single takes or shot/reverse shot. I would never describe its presentation as pretentious; it was an efficiently told film, clocking in at less than a hundred minutes. Very refreshing!
Seeing Edward Rowe and Chloe Endean casually have a Bait reunion, even if they didn't necessarily interact on screen, was fun to see as a Mark Jenkin fan. I knew I recognized Martin from Bait!
I think the structure of the film, after a while, does perhaps become a bit repetitive, and it does feel a little long in parts, but it doesn't affect the film much.
No spoilers, but its final shot does leave a lot to be questioned, and I'm not sure if it will have the desired effect for others, as it left me a bit cold. But, this could be the ambiguity the filmmakers intended.
Flaws aside, it was cool to see Falmouth University filmmaking in action, and I can only imagine - from personal recollection of his memorable lectures - that Harvey filmed copious test shoots to proactively nullify any problems from developing during production.
Long Way Back is very methodically crafted, and very much a Brett Harvey film in every sense of the word. Check it out!
