Insha'Allah

I really enjoyed this film. The production qualities, for what I assume is a low budget film are superb. As good as anything you'd expect to see on the screen. The central performances are uniformly excellent and create an interesting tension between choosing between compassion or choosing to follow the rules. It raises some serious issues or moral conundrums, that stay with the viewer afterwards but doesn't get 'preachy' or sacrifice a good story to do it.

Loved it! Clear plotting and message, rich sub-text, great noirish atmosphere, well written, directed and acted. No scene is wasted in such a short film, yet depth of character for all three principle characters is achieved. If I had 5 thumbs, I'd stick them all up! Unfortunately I only have 3, so that'll have to do.

The audience at the Picture House screening reacted well to Insha'Allah. It is an atmospheric film, full of the brooding ambivalence that characterises the film noir influences that it draws from. The cinematography is striking, precisely because of its beautiful depictions of low-key settings. The entrapment of the characters within these everyday scenes and locations throws into relief the claustrophobic tragedy of their existence, as they struggle against a system that manifests its power not through the direct violence of an army at war but through the anonymous cruelty of rules and administration.

The juxtaposition of the title and the ending point to a thought-provoking premise and it is clear that the writers have important themes and ideas to explore. As for many a first short, the film's plot does suffer from being a short where it yearns to be a full-length film. Likewise there is much more to develop in terms of the characters to ensure that we really engage with them; currently, at times, we watch their struggles rather than really feeling them.

There are glimpses of the great potential that the directors have to create an atmospheric, gritty film that engages with necessary themes. It's not perfect by any means but as a first attempt at a short, it's an interesting and memorable film.

I went to see this short film full of belief and excitement about a new breed of up and coming filmmakers. Well educated in film and fresh out of some of the highly regarded courses offered by Film Oxford's.

Expectation levels were set high, very high.

Sadly this was not going to be the film expected.

I'm told that you need to write a good script as the foundation to any good film. This was not a good script, re-writes are key, it seams that it was not re-written or developed on any level. The story poor and not believable. You then need the best actors you can get, good actors struggle with a bad script. Poor actors and a poor script and you're in trouble. Amateur cinematography and badly chosen shots that didn't drive the story forward just made things worse.

Had this been a 48 hour film challenge or as a student film it may have been acceptable. But this took over a year to find it's way to the screen.

I hate to be so scathing as we all know that just to make a film, finish it and show it is a success no matter how bad it is. And for that at least they get a big tick.

One can only hope the team learn from this, that they can look at the finish and realise the many places they have gone wrong and fix this on their next film, providing they can raise money after this effort. If they can learn, if they can improve dramatically then I will be the first person to sing their praises.

So I remain hopeful that the next film will be something just a little special.