REVIEWS FOR INDEPENDENT FILM, LOW BUDGET FILM, SHORT FILM & WEB SERIES
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Johnny Han's short film "An Unreliable Narrator" is an interesting idea put to screen. If there is something most of us know, it's that relationships are hard. Really hard. That perfect combination of things has to exist otherwise... it simply doesn't work out. The problem is that we're human. Even when things are just not working, there are feelings to consider. Physical confrontations. An entire range of emotions to be considered. Truth. Lies. Deception... these things all play their parts in sometimes messy situations. It's not just one person that has to have everything fall perfectly into place. It's both. So what exactly is "An Unreliable Narrator" about? Well reader, it's about a break up, followed by an aspiring filmmakers attempt to capture those feelings... on camera. A chronicle of an ending relationship. Making this film even more interesting? It's the story of Laura's breakup with Virginia. Did I mention Laura is the filmmaker in question? This is her story as she plays herself - against an actress portraying Virginia. This film narrates itself through the ending of the filmmakers relationship. And as we soon realize, Laura is having problems keeping the film - and what happened in "real life" apart. Truthfully? So did I.
This is an experimental movie. I'm pretty sure of that. A retrospective narrative that does indeed, seem interesting in theory... but is tough to visually grasp. This is a jumpy, hard to follow experiment that is presented in a jumpy... hard to follow kind of way. I completely understood what Johnny Han was trying to do. But understanding and following along are two different beasts. If I had not read the description before watching the film, things would make very little sense. Perhaps a different take on the edit would have worked. Perhaps not. It's really hard to say considering this is a rather unique idea. So I'll just stick with what I know for sure... it was tough to follow, from an outsiders point of view. Yet there is also a lot of good stuff here. The acting for example. With this type of concept, you better have some good acting - otherwise the entire production could be unwatchable. "An Unreliable Narrator" is not unwatchable. The opposite... it's almost hypnotizing. This film may be hard to follow, but I found it hard to look away. Faults aside, I have to write that this is a pretty decent flick - simply because I couldn't stop watching. I may have been a little jarred trying to keep up with what was happening, but things were not so bad I couldn't enjoy the film for what it was. Just what was that? As I wrote above, an experimental piece with a really interesting concept. Clearly there's talent here. It all just goes to show that sometimes, you just got to go with the flow and see where it takes you. As a really quick fix when some entertainment is needed... you really can't go wrong here. Maybe not perfect, but it does the trick.
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