For my next blog post, I thought it might be fun to post something from quite a few years back now (or at least it feels like) when I covered the Aesthetica Short Film Festival in York, usually held at the beginning of November, and which offers a very interesting and unique setting for showcasing work from the short and independent film worlds.

I was there in a kind of daze for two days in my best “film reporter” mode and although I do have a lot of notes from it (some of which I may type up eventually), I did review this particular film which hit me right between the eyes and which I implore you check out whenever you get the chance.

So, without further adieu, here is the review, enjoy…

A Most Remarkable Review of a Remarkable Career

By William Bundy

Attending the Aesthetica short film festival as I did for the two days I was there, I was struck by the sheer range and variety of the films I managed to see.

Racing between screenings like a mad man possessed, I managed to jot down many notes on each film, and wondered exactly how I would be able to mould them into any semblance of a festival review. This combined with the distinct lack of sleep I was receiving each night before the festival days I attended, resulted in a rather surreal and sometimes quite stressful experience  - something I’m kind of astounded I got through in one piece without coming across as a nervous wreck.

Much like Miss Remarkable herself I suppose.

Seeing this particular film was like a revelation.  I can honestly say that out of the myriad of films I did see at the festival - many of which very interesting and well made - this one hit me right between the eyes and left an imprint like no other. All the more ironic considering I had no interest in seeing the film beforehand and was in fact contemplating leaving the adult animation screening slot after seeing what I had wanted to watch.

The film itself takes the form of a beautiful and stark black and white animation, with an almost German Expressionist use of production design and misc-en-scene to create an overwhelming kaleidoscope of mind-bending imagery and living sets, that seemed to interact and reflect the main characters moods and feelings like some symbiotic alien organism.

The resultant effect was a dazzling and visually rich journey through one thoroughly unhappy and strikingly sympathetic woman, who is simply crushed by the overwhelming expectations placed upon her career wise. Having felt these pressures myself lately (although nowhere as extreme thankfully,)  the overall message of the film hit me like a ton of bricks, and as I watched the story unfold I found myself completely mesmerized and seduced by it’s biting satire and rich humour which served to accentuate and heighten the very serious message being transmitted.

The film itself begins with Miss Remarkable being told she has to reach for the sky career wise and to do everything possible to do something remarkable, essentially.  Her father in a surreal moment launches off in a rocket to the moon, which tells us something about his ambitions and priorities in life and also immediately tells us in an imaginative way that he is no longer going to be present in her life.   The mother is by contrast quite overbearing and instils in her daughter the further need to excel and to change the world, which sets the rest of the films narrative off nicely.

As she then progresses in age, we see how much of the world itself is painted in caricature and metaphor, with Miss Remarkable being pressured at every turn to excel and succeed.  To change the world.   She goes from workplace to workplace, with unsympathetic bosses and snobby colleagues cornering her at every turn, with her soul being wrung of it’s last drop as she struggles to live up to such lofty ambitions.

It’s a fantastic pieces of storytelling which uses comic exaggeration and satire to it’s fullest extent, painting an extremely searing and demeaning portrait of a particular aspect of our modern culture gone wrong when taken to extremes, and the effect it has on those who feel the need to get somewhere.

Throughout the film she is often followed by a black shadow monster, a wonderful comic representation of her own inner depression which threatens to swallow her and cover her whole at various points, and this character is one representation of the startling use of shadow and texture in this film.

Often times she is left completely surrounded by either white or black, and this extremely expressionistic and surrealistic imagery really leaves it’s mark, creating a visual whirlwind throughout the film that staggers and shocks the eye, hammering home the bleak emotional state of the main character and extenuating the satire and biting wit of the piece beautifully.

Others characters such as her boyfriend are also painted extremely unsympathetically, not having any regard seemingly for her concerns or fears, and we get the impression that no matter how hard this woman will try in life, she won’t get anywhere with the attitude she has or the people which surround her.  Which really isn’t her fault anyway.

One particular aspect I laughed at the most (and I found myself laughing quite a bit through the movie) was the therapist she sees, who eventually turns into nothing but a repeating robot, which I felt hit at something deep down inside me and would perhaps resonate with most people, and addresses the frustrations I’m sure we’ve all felt with therapists at some point.

Eventually however as she reaches near breaking point as her career is going nowhere, she retreats to an Island where she tries to find herself.  This again I could relate to enormously as I’ve been trying to achieve the same goal of finding another place in which to try and effectively consolidate myself and look for some meaning and purpose in my own life, and it’s clear to me that the filmmakers are addressing some very real modern issues that a lot of people I suspect go through.

She doesn’t of course find the answers she was looking for, at least not immediately, even though she makes friends with and accepts her “darker” side as represented by the shadow monster.  She instead only faces more of her own inner angst and torment, represented beautifully by an animated sequence in which she faces all the inner doubts and negative thoughts she has, represented by figures from her past which effectively condemn her metaphorically to servitude in depression.

It is only when she is struck with the realization of letting go, that she is able to move forward, and lays a flower at the metaphorical tomb of her own great expectations.   Once these are let are go of she can finally just “be” and enjoy life on her terms, and not what her parents or anybody else expects of her.

This end message is sent beautifully by the end shot of her simply drinking a coffee and looking out over the neighbourhood, greeted by the Sun which has always been present in the film.  Always sneaking in the background to try and perhaps subtly remind us that life does go on and that no matter what happens, there will always be something to smile about.  Something to always be thankful for that never goes away.   That constant perhaps being life itself, and the beauty that always surrounds us, no matter how bleak our outlook may be.

Ultimately, I found the film to be a beautifully stunning and moving analysis of the pressures we all perhaps face in modern life, and in my estimation, it should be shown to as many people as possible.  To me at least, it hit the nail right on the head, in terms of pressures and depressive issues I have been facing, and I think it’s a shame it did not win an award at the Aesthetica International Short Film Festival.   I do however hope it finds a wider audience in time, and can be appreciated for what it is: a beautiful visual poem that shows us how to look at life in a different and uplifting way.  

And I like that a lot.