Films are hard to generalize and compartmentalize. And, yet they have been segregated into genres at the risk of overlooking the nuances that they bring forth. E film brings with it a unique experience. Even if the stories remain the same, the style with which they are narrated differs. The actors involved add a different layer to the characters they enact. And, along with the entire ensemble of the cast and crew, the audiences too bring in an element, that of the ultimate validation…
As the audience, we take back something from each film viewed. After all, we too bring in our own views and experiences whilst judging them. Our personal favourites and preferred genres or cinematic styles all clouding our judgment, our opinions can seldom be unbiased. So, clearly, there isn’t a singular way to get at this, save for analyzing the work on the basis of the consistency of the performances involved and the craftsmanship with which the film is executed.
Of all the films of 2018, we had some unique entries and never-seen-before shorts, but, perhaps, the best of it all had to be ‘The Critic’, for its sheer content and consistency with regards to performance and execution from all quarters. Stella Velon’s ‘The Critic’, a poignant, insightful look into the soul of an actress, with the measured performance of Velon is a 14:55 minutes long film that gently peels off the veneer of glamour. And, what it leaves us with is a vulnerable, almost unlikeable, unrecognizable fallen star who sans her makeup and décor is as gullible, as plain as us.
The dialogues, deftly sequenced into an interview style with Alan Smyth as the interviewer are unmistakably a heartfelt monologue. That, coupled with Asaf Sagiv’s music and Akis Konstantakopoulos’s cinematography that plays with the light brings forth such a powerful short that it’s both and achingly moving. Be it the editing or the direction, there is such consistency in the way the film is executed from start to finish that it is hard to pick a flaw in it.
For films that usually offer a kaleidoscopic vision into the film industry, ‘The Critic’ uses a singular lens to focus on the work, profession and personal space of the people involved in the field, all through the eyes of an actress. ‘The Critic’ is an absolutely stunning visual and a treat to the cerebral folk and cinephiles alike!
The editor’s pick this year singularly, unabashedly falls for Stella Velon’s ‘The Critic’, worth every minute of the short! Indie Shorts Mag wishes Stella Velon the best for her future projects and thanks her for shining such pearls of genius upon us this year!
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