Sep 2, 20192 min read

The Writer short film review

★★

Written by: Pascal Adam

Starring: #DominiquePerrin, #CliffKoma, #LirijeIbrahimi, #StephanieSlow

A story of unrequited love in filmmaker Pascal Adam's short film The Writer. Exploring the marvel and wonder in the coming together of two people, it's a delicate tale of following your heart.

Dominique Perrin plays the physical representation of a Server in a bar (voiced by Cliff Koma). Eagerly awaiting the arrival of a woman he adores (Lirije Ibrahimi, voiced by Stephanie Slow), our Server pens a note declaring his feelings towards her. The woman, when she arrives, is revealed to be a Writer, who drinks red wine and pens narratives as she sits at the bar. The nature and themes of her stories are distinctly similar to the longing felt by the Server.

Poetic and tender, The Writer is a movie loaded with romance. Each nook and cranny of the filmmaking is arranged to showcase the emotional crux of each character, from the romantic mise en scéne to the gloopy musical score. The dialogue is heartfelt and at times whimsical, in particular during the brilliant animated sequences which were the highlight of the piece.

If the decision to use two performances for each character (one voice one physical) was for artistic reasons, it sadly backfires. There is a strong disconnect between the two and whilst this may represent the disparity between our public persona and our inner monologue, the result for the audience is a jarring viewing experience that rendered the whole film feeling cheap.

The lighting of scenes was too stark, especially for a film with such an intimate storyline. This was made even more apparent when the movie diverted into the animated sequence and then returned to the drab bar setting. The music was ladled on too thick, causing the piece to suffocate slightly from the emotive cacophony.

For a five minute film, The Writer does well to grapple with such heavy themes. There is strong character development and had the short film been able to coordinate more of the various #filmmaking aspects consistently, this could have been an interesting journey into the fantasy and fiction of love. Had the filmmakers been able to spot the strengths of the film earlier on and honed in on those, this could have been a beautiful love story.

As it is, however, we are presented with a disjointed and regrettably irksome movie that loses its potency amongst the saccharin and dull aesthetic choices. Much like the suffering of the characters, it fails to see what's great when it is right in front of them and opts to remain in the confusion.

Watch the official short film trailer below.