I believe this is a lovely little film, in some ways very nearly as good as a ten-minute film can be. When I saw it on the web recently, for the first time in the 50 years since I saw it once on the BBC, I was struck again by how evocative and poignant it was. I acknowledge that my appreciation was enhanced by the background music of Sibelius, which was used to good effect in this wordless film, whose only other soundtrack was footsteps and train whistles, etc. But independently of the music it did tell a simple story very well.
Possible spoiler follows.
There is a twist at the end, which originally I did not see coming. Others may have guessed it in advance. This twist explains some otherwise peculiar parts of the earlier storyline in a way that was entirely satisfying. I have read one review that said it would have been better if we had known this situation from the beginning, but my own take on the film is different. I believe the film gains its power from the fact that we cannot quite make sense of what is going on, until the final two minutes, when it all makes sense.
The mood of the film was melancholy without being depressing, poignant without being miserable. It is both a love story and a mystery, and it tells a lot in its short running time. As a short film, it cannot compete with a full-length feature for depth and characterisation, but a small-scale piece of work that succeeds in almost everything it does, may be held to be a better effort than a much more ambitious one that fails in several areas. I recommend this as a great little short film.
Possible spoiler follows.
There is a twist at the end, which originally I did not see coming. Others may have guessed it in advance. This twist explains some otherwise peculiar parts of the earlier storyline in a way that was entirely satisfying. I have read one review that said it would have been better if we had known this situation from the beginning, but my own take on the film is different. I believe the film gains its power from the fact that we cannot quite make sense of what is going on, until the final two minutes, when it all makes sense.
The mood of the film was melancholy without being depressing, poignant without being miserable. It is both a love story and a mystery, and it tells a lot in its short running time. As a short film, it cannot compete with a full-length feature for depth and characterisation, but a small-scale piece of work that succeeds in almost everything it does, may be held to be a better effort than a much more ambitious one that fails in several areas. I recommend this as a great little short film.
