directed by:
Devin Scott written by: Devin Scott genre: Drama |
More often than not, I find the best way to describe a film is to give a factual account of what it was like to experience it without trying to blur the lines between what was real & the flowery descriptions that too many writers tend to use. As I sat here watching “Aunt Cindy And The Alchemist,” I suppose the first thing I noticed was the heavy use of old film footage, which I tend to enjoy visually. Then I started thinking about how “Aunt Cindy And The Alchemist” seemed to be geared towards people like me who would be happy to pull open a family photo album and look back through the past.
I wanted to know if that is an activity that many of us still like to do and whether that would determine how folks out there might or might not like this short film from Writer/Director Devin Scott. It’s one thing to pull open your family photo albums and look back through your memories, but it’s a different scenario when you’re doing that with someone else. Do you know what I mean? I started to think of all the different vacations that my grandma used to take back when I was a kid, and how she’d come back with huge carousels of slides to click through. Is that something everyone would truly enjoy? I mean, heck – was that even something I used to enjoy? Still, I couldn’t quite take my eyes off the screen. Scott did an exceptional job gathering this footage to create something in the realm of ‘true fiction’ – which is an interesting genre, to say the least, and a wonderful term for a style of films that I could write essays about on the concept alone…but we’ll save that for another time. In any event, I really loved what he chose to show us onscreen, even if, for the first several minutes, it merely felt like “Aunt Cindy And The Alchemist” would be a tour through personal nostalgia more than it would go on to be a film that had something more profound to say. How wrong I was! Credit where credit is due; I won’t be the only one to be fooled by what Devin has put together here; he proves to be a real master in the art of the reveal and will give this film a twist you won’t see coming. And you know something? I really don’t want to give too much away when it comes to that specific twist, so I’m going to do my best to avoid that & simply tell you that there’s a real clue to be found within the very first line you’ll hear in “Aunt Cindy And The Alchemist” that will almost outright spell it out for ya – but even with that being the case, chances are it’ll fly right over most heads watching like it did with mine, and it won’t be until you give this film a second spin that you’ll catch what was really being said. What worried me on my first watch of “Aunt Cindy And The Alchemist” was that it felt like this whole film could turn into a love affair with a car at any given moment – and I’d have been completely lost if that was the direction it chose to go in. Thankfully, while there is still a fair amount of car-based footage and narrative supplied in this film, that’s not really what it’s about at all. Ultimately, you’ll find that “Aunt Cindy And The Alchemist” is a story of unconditional love at the core of it all – and it’s beautiful. It’s the story of the pursuit of happiness. It’s the story of understanding that we all have different wants, desires & needs, and it’s the story of how amazing it is to find someone to share ALL of that with. Told from a retrospective perspective that examines what it was like to grow up in this unique situation - as you tour through the countryside and Italy in ‘The Alchemist’ and view these old memories onscreen, you’ll find this to be a completely vivid account of a childhood that was different but never lacked love.
Somewhere around the fifth minute, you’ll start to hear the theme of this film start to change – yet even at that point, you still won’t quite get the full scope of what “Aunt Cindy And The Alchemist” is communicating. The footage continues to be dazzling, charming, and endlessly enticing to watch. You’ll learn that the grandfather filmed it in this tale of family, who thought he could subsidize the cost of a vacation by getting a bunch of Ford footage that could potentially be a commercial of some sort – it’s a random explanation, but it’s cleverly added in to explain how what we see was actually captured on film at all. Otherwise, it’d be somewhat strange to see this dude’s mom and Aunt Cindy out on the town & we’d have to wonder about how the footage came to be – that’s the fun of true fiction. I think Devin did an exceptional job of laying this whole story out in a very beautiful and believable way. Spoiler alert. With around two minutes to go, somewhere around the 9:30 mark, you’ll finally be let in on what “Aunt Cindy And The Alchemist” is really all about. Buckle up, my friends, because it’s not actually about cars at all! Instead, this film shifts gears into showing us what real love and, acceptance and family can be like. Again, it’s a twist that you won’t see coming, but you’ll probably feel like you should have all the same. Regardless, Scott takes you into a finale that is exceptionally gorgeous, and puts the focus on how important happiness is in these lives we lead & how crucial it is to find that part of ourselves at all costs. When love is authentic and unconditional, there’s nothing that can stop it, nothing that can dull or damage its sparkling effect on the human heart, and nothing that we wouldn’t do to see it continue. “What does love look like?” Scott asks us in his film – and I’m happy to say that he was kind enough to show us in “Aunt Cindy And The Alchemist.” Love looks exactly like what you’ll find onscreen in this film.I was seriously impressed by where this all went from my first impressions of what it was going to be, to where it ended up. I had moments where I wasn’t entirely sure if Casey Campbell, the narrator, was the right choice or if he was too seasoned in his craft for this particular project - but I felt like I even came around to love how he contributes to this film as well. Once I had watched it, I immediately felt like I wanted to watch it again – and if that ain’t the ultimate compliment to the efforts being made, I’m not sure what else could be! All in all, I’m going with a very strong four stars out of five here - and in many ways, I’ll be honest and say that even I think I might not be doing this film justice with that rating. I think “Aunt Cindy And The Alchemist” has the kind of strengths in what we see and hear that will appeal to many people. Still, it’s probably fair to point out that those aspects of this film that appeal to me may have a more challenging time impacting others. Essentially, “Aunt Cindy And The Alchemist” isn’t necessarily for everyone – and that’s okay! A lot of folks aren’t quite at a level or mental capacity to understand what this film is communicating, but it’s stories like these that are truly responsible for being the stepping stones of our slow evolution and creating a space where we can talk about some extremely important issues. Above all, it reminds us about the magic of love, the importance of understanding, the empowerment of acceptance, and that we all need these things in life in our own unique ways. Piece by piece, day by day, it’s films just like this one that enhance and enlighten our experience as human beings – this is an absolutely wonderful flick. |
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