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August 31, 2006
I've just watched Melbourne-based animator Sarah Watt's first film--- Look Both Ways on DVD. It sensitively and wittily explores snippets of the interwoven lives of a number of damaged people over one hot weekend in Adelaide down amongst the decrepit Semaphore/Port Adelaide back streets The sense of local atmosphere, light, dryness and heat haze was recognizable as an Adelaide heatwave---40+ degrees. The fates of the people's messy lives are woven around a single train incident; the film is grounded in familiar detail textured with and lots of meaning.
Though it is saying that confronting cancer death and mortality gives meaning to life through an affirmation of life, the film highlights awkwardnesses surrounding cancer and death, our emotional clumsiness and unease in knowing what or when to express ourselves. Sometimes it came close to saying that it's the silences that speak most strongly.
What I loved was the use of animation Meryl and Nick imagine all kinds of disasters and they're visualised in animated form both painterly images of fear and photomontage images of memories. Finally we see people thinking visually in response to events in their everyday lives.
A romantic comedy it is not.
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This sounds really interesting, particularly the way animation was used. I just finished breast cancer treatment, so the subject matter is appropos. I check in on your blog every week and I've thoroughly enjoyed all of my visits.