After thinking on the fictional narrative presented within "The Golden Shore" from writer Lloyd Lewis, you may find yourself wondering how easy it would be for this film to switch from fiction, to non-fiction. The most obvious inspirations for this film, in my eyes anyhow, come from WW2 and the Nazi ideal. With "The Golden Shore" however, it's not that much of a stretch to understand the parallels with world events of today. I suspect this is intentional, and as a cautionary story, Fred Cavender directs a clear winner. One that may make you ask yourself, in an off-the-cuff kind of way, if we're doomed to repeat the mistakes of our forefathers over and over for all of time. Some scary thinking indeed. With this film, the tool of the story is a poem. Written many moons prior to the timeline in this film, by a now retired professor. With absolutely no say in the matter, his poem is stolen and reworked into a national anthem by the governing body of the day. The administration presented in the film is a hated, militaristic regime, that had no problem reminding me of Hitlers Germany. No freedom. No choice... and no hope. The fallout for our starring professor, is attempted assaults and general hatred - because he is now seen as the face of this cruel dictatorship. Did I mention he wanted no part of any of this? Did I also mention it's pretty clear he "doesn't" support this new government? Feeling backed into a corner, and now considered public enemy number one by the general population, a choice must be made... and finally is. The ending, may not be a total shocker by any means, but it does the trick. A very fitting and strangely fulfilling ending... yet also quite a sad one. This is what's in store for viewers of this short film. Did I mention it's free to watch right now? Regarding the quality of the production itself? Actually... there's not much to complain about. "The Golden Shore" is presented in black and white and usually... that's not my thing. I understand the stylistic choices of such old school movies yet usually, I'm just not that receptive. I feel black and white was a technical limitation of yester-year. One that should be avoided now. However... it works in this film. Maybe it's the content. Maybe it's the wardrobe of the characters... whatever the reason, it actually fit. Quite well. Other production highlights were the fantastic performances from both the leading and supporting cast, and a lack of the "hand-held" camera work that seems to be intruding on indie film left, right and center. "The Golden Shore" keeps it steady, well paced and well acted. Some excellent traits for any production, and being an indie low budget one... it's easy to write that everyone did a bang up job. What "The Golden Shore" ends up being is a great example of what "to" do when putting together a film with almost no cash. Some great work guys and gals. In the end I was pleasantly surprised with this one. My initial reaction was not a stellar one but that changed very quickly, and I truly enjoyed my time here. The story itself is entertaining in the moment, and the implications, and observations that come after, make this a satisfying eighteen minutes. Highly recommended... free to watch. What's stopping you?
