I was born and grew up in Northern Ireland and my father, typical of the region, had a way about it; when we would watch things that had an unexplained twist, unsatisfying conclusion or weird ending, he would give a verbal shrug of "aye, well" and probably not have much more to say after that. Along with many other behavioral and physical reminders that I will become him whether I like it or not, I found myself finishing both the sonnet and the film with the same sense of "aye, well". Perhaps the way I struggled with both is the issue, because I really didn't get the sonnet. Even after reading the helpful text on the Sonnet Project page and going back to the sonnet for another time, I struggled to find the meaning in the words that others did. It appeared to be saying that the subject is so beautiful that he lends credence to lesser around him simply by the virtue of him being close – whether it be men or nature itself. It wasn't a sentiment that I easily understood and I found the phrasing quite difficult.
It didn't help that I went into the film with this on me; or that I really don't know too much more about Edgar Allen Poe than what Simpsons and Homicide: Life on the Street have taught me (this film is set in his old cottage). It wasn't that I was putting all my hopes on the film to take me from ignorance into enlightenment, but for sure I did not expect to find myself pushed further into the darkness. In the film a female character stares out the window having just checked her phone (it appears); she ties her hair up, walks downstairs with two phone, finds an older one on the table, has a last look around, and leaves. Over all of this the sonnet is delivered in narration. Maybe it was just me but I was lost.
If the goal was to get me to watch the film again and also read the sonnet then it achieved both goals because the film seemed to have no connection to anything that I knew I must be totally missing something. I guess I still am, because I couldn't find anything in the film that was informed by the sonnet or the location or even tenuous things about the location (I know a little more about Poe, his work and his mysterious death, thanks to me hunting out reason where really there seems to be none). I'm not sure what to take from the film except the feeling that it is something that it doesn't need me for, nor does it particularly care whether I "get it" or not. The rather pretentious end credits (director's name broken down into blocks against each different role), the very long black opening, the long closing wide shot etc – all of these things suggest it is the work of something who has something great in his head but not on camera. Maybe he did get it out – but for this viewer it didn't work at all. Okay he made me read the sonnet probably 20 times and watch the film 4 times, but this was more driven by the work I had to do to even try to understand – not that it was compelling.
The film will stay with me, but not for good reasons – maybe I'll "get it" someday, but for now it eludes me totally and, judging by the presentation style, I'd guess that is totally fine with the makers of this one!
It didn't help that I went into the film with this on me; or that I really don't know too much more about Edgar Allen Poe than what Simpsons and Homicide: Life on the Street have taught me (this film is set in his old cottage). It wasn't that I was putting all my hopes on the film to take me from ignorance into enlightenment, but for sure I did not expect to find myself pushed further into the darkness. In the film a female character stares out the window having just checked her phone (it appears); she ties her hair up, walks downstairs with two phone, finds an older one on the table, has a last look around, and leaves. Over all of this the sonnet is delivered in narration. Maybe it was just me but I was lost.
If the goal was to get me to watch the film again and also read the sonnet then it achieved both goals because the film seemed to have no connection to anything that I knew I must be totally missing something. I guess I still am, because I couldn't find anything in the film that was informed by the sonnet or the location or even tenuous things about the location (I know a little more about Poe, his work and his mysterious death, thanks to me hunting out reason where really there seems to be none). I'm not sure what to take from the film except the feeling that it is something that it doesn't need me for, nor does it particularly care whether I "get it" or not. The rather pretentious end credits (director's name broken down into blocks against each different role), the very long black opening, the long closing wide shot etc – all of these things suggest it is the work of something who has something great in his head but not on camera. Maybe he did get it out – but for this viewer it didn't work at all. Okay he made me read the sonnet probably 20 times and watch the film 4 times, but this was more driven by the work I had to do to even try to understand – not that it was compelling.
The film will stay with me, but not for good reasons – maybe I'll "get it" someday, but for now it eludes me totally and, judging by the presentation style, I'd guess that is totally fine with the makers of this one!