No. 94 (2022) AFTERSUN (Palace British Film Festival) Nov. 9th.

 

Film No. 94 (2022)  November  9th.  6.30 PM   Cinema 1.  LUNA,  Leederville.

 

"There's a feeling that when you leave where you are from that you don't totally belong there again". (Callum responds to Sophie's question asking is he would ever return to Scotland). 

Winner : Best Emerging Director (Charlotte Wells)  Munich Film Festival 2022.

If I'm not mistaken, AFTERSUN feels like a film for critics and connoisseurs not one for the masses. Don't get me wrong, Charlotte Wells has created an emotional memory piece, but it does have a few "WTF is going on?" moments.

Aftersun is described as fiction, melded with memory of the last holiday Wells shared with her father in the late '90's on the Turkish coast. Wells is 11 year old Sophie (Frankie Corio). Using a naturalistic style that takes the work of Ken Loach to a new level, we view how Wells reflects on an impactful short period in her life. A time of significance which is seen with far greater clarity now she is thirty-something.

AFTERSUN is not filled with dramatic moments. That is the charm of the film. Callum (Paul Mescal) is a young man, on holiday with his daughter, but he seems lost, trying to come to terms with a daughter rapidly becoming an adolescent. He is low in self esteem and the world is beginning to leave him behind.

 

For Wells it's as though "the penny has dropped". She understands her father now, her recollections make sense. When she was eleven, going on sixteen, she had her own agenda. This film is a vivid recollection with dots to connect but she leaves that to our imagination. There is so much that is unsaid in AFTERSUN.

Corio and Mescal (Normal People) shine here. A father and daughter we totally believe in. We could be fellow hotel guests looking on. Wells has created an original film, but it won't connect with everyone. Long scenes capturing close ups and atmospheric sounds takes patience and a meditative spirit. A hard film to recommend, but one I was pleased to become invested in.  9GUMS.