"Wednesday" is the brainchild of young director Rob Sorrenti, who was fascinated by the ideas of fate and soulmates and from this came up with a story about two people born in the same hospital whose lives cross exactly twenty-five years later.
Sam (Tom McClane) is a quiet young man with ambitions to be a lawyer. As a baby he was abandoned by his father and brought up by his old Nan (Ann Emery). Sadly Nan is in hospital and slowly dying as he stumbles through an interview for a top-flight London law firm. Nan is being nursed by Lilya (Sinead Matthews), a gentle young woman who has just split up from her boyfriend. Sadly, tragedy strikes as Sam and Lilya meet and immediately connect...
Although the running time is close to just twenty minutes long, "Wednesday" was conceived as an epic short as the events in it transpire over two decades. This is well conveyed by the good use of aerial shots over the city of London. The song played throughout the film hammers home it's message just a little too heavily but this doesn't matter if you focus on the drama. Rob Sorrenti used his considerable connections (the films producer is listed as Stephen Daldry) to bring together a wealth of technical and artistic talents, and nearly everyone involved in the picture gave up their time for free.
Ann Emery, who plays Nan, is well known in the world of musical theatre and played the gran of "Billy Eliot" in the musical stage play based on the film. Tom McClane is a straight play actor whose credits include "The Hamlet Project" at Arcola Theatre in Dalston. These two actors turn in solid performances in their roles.
I first heard about "Wednesday" through my interest in the work of actor Sinead Matthews, whom I had seen on-stage in "You Never Can Tell" at the Garrick Theatre in London. I stumbled onto the film's website www.wednesdaythefilm.com and unable to get to the screenings of it I contacted the producers to find some other way of seeing it and got sent a free DVD copy. Quite a bargain, given the featurettes and commentaries on it that detail the making of the film.
Sinead (whose part in "Wednesday" was written especially for her) has a list of credits to her name including two Mike Leigh movies (she appeared in "Vera Drake" and has a role in his latest picture "Happy-Go-Lucky"). She has a lively, engaging energy on-stage that is perfectly scaled down in her screen appearances. She turns in a sweet performance here, and I was sorry that the film actually ends when she and Sam meet. I told Tom McClane when I met him at Arcola Theatre that there was room for a sequel that, if made, could become a British "Before Sunrise".
If you're lucky enough to get the chance to see this film, do so. It's well watchable and leaves you wanting more.
Sam (Tom McClane) is a quiet young man with ambitions to be a lawyer. As a baby he was abandoned by his father and brought up by his old Nan (Ann Emery). Sadly Nan is in hospital and slowly dying as he stumbles through an interview for a top-flight London law firm. Nan is being nursed by Lilya (Sinead Matthews), a gentle young woman who has just split up from her boyfriend. Sadly, tragedy strikes as Sam and Lilya meet and immediately connect...
Although the running time is close to just twenty minutes long, "Wednesday" was conceived as an epic short as the events in it transpire over two decades. This is well conveyed by the good use of aerial shots over the city of London. The song played throughout the film hammers home it's message just a little too heavily but this doesn't matter if you focus on the drama. Rob Sorrenti used his considerable connections (the films producer is listed as Stephen Daldry) to bring together a wealth of technical and artistic talents, and nearly everyone involved in the picture gave up their time for free.
Ann Emery, who plays Nan, is well known in the world of musical theatre and played the gran of "Billy Eliot" in the musical stage play based on the film. Tom McClane is a straight play actor whose credits include "The Hamlet Project" at Arcola Theatre in Dalston. These two actors turn in solid performances in their roles.
I first heard about "Wednesday" through my interest in the work of actor Sinead Matthews, whom I had seen on-stage in "You Never Can Tell" at the Garrick Theatre in London. I stumbled onto the film's website www.wednesdaythefilm.com and unable to get to the screenings of it I contacted the producers to find some other way of seeing it and got sent a free DVD copy. Quite a bargain, given the featurettes and commentaries on it that detail the making of the film.
Sinead (whose part in "Wednesday" was written especially for her) has a list of credits to her name including two Mike Leigh movies (she appeared in "Vera Drake" and has a role in his latest picture "Happy-Go-Lucky"). She has a lively, engaging energy on-stage that is perfectly scaled down in her screen appearances. She turns in a sweet performance here, and I was sorry that the film actually ends when she and Sam meet. I told Tom McClane when I met him at Arcola Theatre that there was room for a sequel that, if made, could become a British "Before Sunrise".
If you're lucky enough to get the chance to see this film, do so. It's well watchable and leaves you wanting more.
