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Reviews
The Groundsman (2013)
Simple yet Effective
The Groundsman is a Fifteen-minute dramatic short film written and directed by the Scottish cinematographer Jonny Blair. This multi award nominated short features the experienced David O'Hara as the lead character named Keith, a Scottish groundsman who struggles to come to terms with his local football club going out of business. Blair as this being his first featured short film has used effective storytelling through simple yet effective camera work and editing. With an estimated budget of £3,000 provided by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the team that surrounded 'The Groundsman" have outdone themselves, the cinematic look the director achieved is remarkable considering his experience. The script for the piece doesn't include much dialogue and what dialogue it does seems mostly improvised, however this does not take away from the general storytelling. Blair chooses to place the audience around the characters life, so we are taken to see all his flaws and imperfections. The Groundsman is a successful short film because it creates an easy to follow yet intriguing tale. Right from the start we are welcomed through the door to Keith's world or spiritual home in a sense. The Groundskeeper Keith is working through is morning routines, preparing the club for the days play. This all seems like quite mundane work however somewhat meaningful to Keith, especially after the first goal is scored. The plot begins to unravel when Keith arrives to the club the next morning only to find that it has gone broke and is no longer his place of work. We then see Keith struggle to come to terms with this fact, which leads him to the drink, something the director wants us to know has been a problem for Keith in the past. After watching old VHS tapes of past memories Keith is reminded of his family, which is visually hard for Keith to watch, this is an essential part of the script because in my option without this insight the film becomes a touch impersonal. This forces Keith to try and change, by breaking the padlock and letting himself back into the club the director shows the audience Keith is trying not about to let something else that he loves be taken away. While doing maintenance around the club Keith keeps running into roadblocks that stop him from completing his task, this leads him back to the pub where his frustration continues to build. Eventually this is too much for Keith to handle forcing him to walk home intoxicated, this leads to the climax of the movie where all of the characters built up rage and emotion spoils over, executed phenomenally by David O'Hara. In the Final scenes we are now given the opportunity to watch as Keith begin to clean his house of all the rubbish and spiritually getting rid of the baggage he has been carrying. Keith is constantly trying to hold on to any ties he has to the now bankrupt football club, however the director challenges him and the audience to let go of the past and move forward. Blair promotes the idea of celebrating the past instead of being held back from our emotional ties. In my opinion The Groundsman can draw comparisons to a feature film such as The Wrestler, especially in regards to storytelling. Overall The Groundsman is an exceptional dramatic short film, from a director who has already shown a knack for storytelling at a young age.