Caroline of Virginia is a beautiful and touching short film that I recently had the pleasure of viewing on Film Skillet. The story is fantastical and the execution is experimental at its core. That's not to say the feel of the movie doesn't come off as mainstream at times because it does, mainly because of the director's use of pop music.
The story revolves around Caroline, expertly played by Lauren Meley. Caroline is a deaf woman who is skilled at lip reading and as you may have guessed, she's from Virginia. We meet her in the first scenes, working in a bookstore in New York. She is immediately befriended by a musician who goes on to meet a wizard. This wizard gives the musician one wish: I wish the girl from the bookstore could hear my music, is exactly how the musician responds. He's a little sarcastic about it, probably not realizing that the wish would come true. The next morning, the wish is granted and we suddenly get a sense of what true appreciation might consist of, at least, in the director's mind. Caroline spends her time as a "listener" experimenting with sounds like popping balloons, playing with her cats and standing in Times Square to marvel at the traffic noise. Of course there's a catch to all of this: the blessing is temporary and the musician must give up his hearing indefinitely once it is all over. There is no "fix it" solution - the two absolutely HAVE to lost their hearing. The director hits it home when everything goes silent at the end. Caroline and the musician (who is never given a name) walk the world together, deaf.
It was clear right away that the director, Eric Norcross, has some incredible ideas and not enough resources to see them through. The sound quality was good at times and not so good at others. The music is top notch and the cinematography, although rough, is pleasant to look at. Prior to writing this I did some research on him, the actors and their previous works. In an interview the director did for one of the film festivals he screened at, he talks about "true appreciation" and the meaning of the word appreciation. From that interview I have come to the conclusion that not only does Eric Norcross have an understanding of true appreciation, but that he tries his best to relay that understanding to his audience in a way that will leave them... well, appreciative. As for the cast, Lauren Meley is an incredibly skilled actress. After I saw her talking normal in an online video, I was shocked to see that she isn't actually deaf. She fooled me. Hall Hunsinger made a great wizard. He was hysterical to the point where I had to pause the movie to catch my breath. All in all, this was a good team and I'd like to see more from them.
The story revolves around Caroline, expertly played by Lauren Meley. Caroline is a deaf woman who is skilled at lip reading and as you may have guessed, she's from Virginia. We meet her in the first scenes, working in a bookstore in New York. She is immediately befriended by a musician who goes on to meet a wizard. This wizard gives the musician one wish: I wish the girl from the bookstore could hear my music, is exactly how the musician responds. He's a little sarcastic about it, probably not realizing that the wish would come true. The next morning, the wish is granted and we suddenly get a sense of what true appreciation might consist of, at least, in the director's mind. Caroline spends her time as a "listener" experimenting with sounds like popping balloons, playing with her cats and standing in Times Square to marvel at the traffic noise. Of course there's a catch to all of this: the blessing is temporary and the musician must give up his hearing indefinitely once it is all over. There is no "fix it" solution - the two absolutely HAVE to lost their hearing. The director hits it home when everything goes silent at the end. Caroline and the musician (who is never given a name) walk the world together, deaf.
It was clear right away that the director, Eric Norcross, has some incredible ideas and not enough resources to see them through. The sound quality was good at times and not so good at others. The music is top notch and the cinematography, although rough, is pleasant to look at. Prior to writing this I did some research on him, the actors and their previous works. In an interview the director did for one of the film festivals he screened at, he talks about "true appreciation" and the meaning of the word appreciation. From that interview I have come to the conclusion that not only does Eric Norcross have an understanding of true appreciation, but that he tries his best to relay that understanding to his audience in a way that will leave them... well, appreciative. As for the cast, Lauren Meley is an incredibly skilled actress. After I saw her talking normal in an online video, I was shocked to see that she isn't actually deaf. She fooled me. Hall Hunsinger made a great wizard. He was hysterical to the point where I had to pause the movie to catch my breath. All in all, this was a good team and I'd like to see more from them.
