The phrase "not waving but drowning" is brought to life in this rather sombre short film that works because it is about wider issues of distance where the happy family on the beach fail to see the man's cries for help as such not in regards his drowning but his life generally. Filmed in the old Super 8 film stock that are now used anytime a film wants to show that we are watching old family movies, this is delivered simply at first but then gradually brings in a poem (onscreen) that tells us more about the man, while the director changes her focus to him rather than the oblivious family. It is a simple point to make but it is a clever and effective way of doing it and I must admit that describing it is doing the creative mind behind it an injustice. Seeing it on screen it is easy perhaps to say it is rather obvious but I was impressed by the ideas coming together and the intelligence of the style and manner of delivery. It is a simple point but it is cleverly done and viewers should not make the mistake of thinking that just because it is easy to understand that it is any less intelligent or worth seeing.
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