adow-44870 Review of Edith+Eddie

Edith+Eddie (2017)

A Beautifully Crafted Short with a Few Facts Missing

[7/10 · 15 June 2018]

'Edith and Eddie' is an expertly crafted documentary about the true story of the oldest interracial newlyweds that pulls on the heartstrings and gets the tears flowing. 'Edith and Eddie' weaves its way through the themes of racism, love, the indignity of the elderly and the greed of our world, with grace. The filmmakers have achieved this through their gorgeous technical work and symbolism. The camera shots help to give a very distinct feel to the documentary and helps us to switch between the themes and push them further. When Edith and Eddie, the stars of this documentary, are together, the shots of them side by side give us a look into their deep and loving relationship. A lot of shots are close ups of Eddie holding hands with Edith, drawing attention the different colours of their skin, solidifying the theme that love is love, no matter the differences. When Edith and Eddie are separated, the filmmakers use Dutch tilts to disorientate the viewer, giving a sense of the confusion and emptiness of Edith's absence. The house they lived in is filmed in a way that makes it feel like a prison without her. Things like trains and the moon are used to give us a sense of passing time, without the need of narrating. The audio of 'Edith and Eddie' is one of its best features and provokes deep emotion in viewers. It captures the picturesque nature of the beginning with a fun and light tune, giving the audience a sense of the playfulness of their relationship, dancing to music and spending time together. When things start to go downhill for the couple, the music lets us know with a dreary, monotone soundtrack, giving us a sense of dread. When there is tragedy, as there is in this story, all of the music stops, and every tiny sound is magnified, helping us to feel the grief of the people in this story. At the bittersweet ending, the audio is so moving and full of emotion that I was close to tears and it really solidified the themes in my head. The editing is some of the best I have seen and really drives the emotions home. There is no narrating only subtitles, which makes documentary feel like no one is intervening with the story, giving it a very authentic feel. One of the best sequences is when the video cuts out, leaving only the audio, a black screen and subtitles as lawyers and the couple are arguing. The use of a black screen was a great move, as black is a colour we associate with darkness, fear and generally all things bad, which really portrays that feeling of uncertainty and dread the couple feels. When the lawyers are arguing and certain lines that Eddie says, instead of being captioned with who is speaking as it does in the rest of the sequence, they are left nameless. This causes us to consider the words as a truth instead of an opinion, and those lines really casts the lawyers and the parts of the family taking Edith away in an antagonistic light. Lines like, "How do you feel doing this to your mother," "You're doing evil things," "You'll never forget it," and "You'll remember this to your dying day, you will remember this until your dying day," really makes the lawyers and opposing family seem evil and cruel. This causes the viewers, myself included, to feel outrage against the injustice against this elderly couple. Overall, the documentary short was stunning and it pulled out deep in me. I was disgusted about the way our elderly are being treated in society, and that something should be done to change this. Upon further research however, I found that many details were left out, and the story had been made to put more impact in the emotion, and less based on facts like people hope documentaries are. After that, the documentary felt a little one sided. The themes of racism felt a little forced. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this incredible documentary short.