Sonnet #35 (Sonnet Project US)
- Episode aired Aug 20, 2018
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US special 3 - Detroit/Sonnet #35: Nice idea but gets lost in messy footage and (understandably) amateur delivery
Until recently I had skipped the films in this series which were not really part of the series but had come in from other places. I'm not sure what triggered them to be made, or meant that the Sonnet Project NY hosted them as part of the whole, but I hadn't watched them. Part of me felt that they were not helping the Project towards their goal, and were repeating sonnets already covered, so I was less interested in them. A pointless opinion to have over films only a few minutes long! With the main season finally delivering another film after a 9 month wait, I decided to check out some of the US and international films that I hadn't seen.
"Let's just read it and see how it goes" is the opening line of this film, and it struck me cold as I prepared for the film to perhaps only do that. Fortunately it didn't do that, although what it did is a mix of frustratingly good snippets, bogged down by elements which probably seem like a good idea to those involved. The sonnet text talks of crimes, uses legal jargon, and focuses very much on the idea of grey areas where nobody is all bad even if they have done bad - seeing from the opening card that this is set in a woman's correctional facility, it seemed like it was a good fit. Across the film we get individual shots of the women appearing to reflect or recoil from something in their minds; although these are barely a second per person, there is something there and the majority seem to be able to find something to use in that space. This leads to the end where they are supported by others, despite whatever brought them to this place. As an idea I liked it, but the delivery other than these few shots, is pretty poor.
Rather than focus on the text and the idea, the majority of the film shows workshops and exercises, all while the text is delivered so-so over the top. I guess they wanted to captured that community and experience of the group, and that the text in some way links to the restorative power of the theatre group itself, but for me it went the other way in that it took away from the focus on individuals and the text. Also, as a repressed Brit, the exercises all looked a bit corny to me, so the secondary idea that links to the text didn't work at all. Performances are amateurish of course, although those shots really brought something out - and it is a real shame that this aspect wasn't more fully utilized in a way that could have delivered the overall flow of the idea, but with more of a tight focus and meaning.
"Let's just read it and see how it goes" is the opening line of this film, and it struck me cold as I prepared for the film to perhaps only do that. Fortunately it didn't do that, although what it did is a mix of frustratingly good snippets, bogged down by elements which probably seem like a good idea to those involved. The sonnet text talks of crimes, uses legal jargon, and focuses very much on the idea of grey areas where nobody is all bad even if they have done bad - seeing from the opening card that this is set in a woman's correctional facility, it seemed like it was a good fit. Across the film we get individual shots of the women appearing to reflect or recoil from something in their minds; although these are barely a second per person, there is something there and the majority seem to be able to find something to use in that space. This leads to the end where they are supported by others, despite whatever brought them to this place. As an idea I liked it, but the delivery other than these few shots, is pretty poor.
Rather than focus on the text and the idea, the majority of the film shows workshops and exercises, all while the text is delivered so-so over the top. I guess they wanted to captured that community and experience of the group, and that the text in some way links to the restorative power of the theatre group itself, but for me it went the other way in that it took away from the focus on individuals and the text. Also, as a repressed Brit, the exercises all looked a bit corny to me, so the secondary idea that links to the text didn't work at all. Performances are amateurish of course, although those shots really brought something out - and it is a real shame that this aspect wasn't more fully utilized in a way that could have delivered the overall flow of the idea, but with more of a tight focus and meaning.
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- bob the moo
- Aug 27, 2018
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