If there is one thing this film gets right, it is an almost defiant usage of close ups. It feels oppressive and claustrophic, there are very few shots not are far away shots, and while this will bother many people, it is quite obviously intentional to give a certain mood and feel, at that it is very successful, it handily portrays the apartment complex as dark, dank, and close quarters. While a few more shots from a further distance would have served the movie in some parts. It also becomes clear by the end just why things were film the way that they are, I cannot fault the director for his unity of vision and sustained consistency of shots.
I am not going to go as far to say this is a good film, the story itself is not highly original, but it is very unique in the way it is filmed, it's setting, execution, and it's tone. It is very slow-moving, and it appears to have have no discernible plot, but feels and looks like one long nightmare. The movie is all mood and feel, so if this bothers you, it would be best to avoid watching it. If the opening moments don't set the tone and let you know this is going to be a strange and a movie that doesn't hold your hand, then, I'm sorry. I almost turned it off in the first few minutes, the close-ups really irritated me, but as the movie progressed I realized that they are indeed and asset to the film.
it at first appears to set itself in the 1920's or earlier, but it is obviously intentionally vague, I base this on the clothes, telephones, and the opium usage. This also made it different and a bit off-putting. I still can't say for sure if it actually is set in the 1920's, the lines become more blurred on this as the film progresses, because of some other things that are not so old. There is a guitar type which clearly wouldn't have existed at that time, but I don't believe that's a mistake, it isn't meant to be a particular time period, kind of like "It Follows". , but it seems to be meant to be ambiguous. As already stated, there is not much of a story, this is a very metaphorical film, obviously to do with the process of writing and loss, but by the end, it is about far more than that.
The acting is not mind-blowing, the best actor here is the the caretaker, the lead is not bad, he does well-enough, the other actors, are hit or miss, but there are not many of them, so it isn't a huge deal. For a very low-budget film, the acting was definitely above average.
It was made for $30,000, and on the whole, it looks very good and they used the movie to make the film look as good as possible. The sound and music was also very well-done, particularly for a very low-budget film. It strangely transitions from scene to scene with blackouts, which is very odd, but it is consistent throughout the film. By the end the film doesn't amount to much more than a mood piece, and I don't think it is meant to be much more than that.
I'm not sure exactly what it all means, but I found it strange and interesting enough to keep watching. This one is not for fans of linear storytelling, and movies that contain normal situations with normal people. It will likely only appeal to people who enjoy watching low-budget artistic films that attempt to tell stories in a unique fashion.
God Bless ~Amy
