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(aka "Hide & Seek" )
directed by Joanna Coates
UK 2014
"I feel like none of us have really got a lot at the moment..." says one of four character who have turned their backs on the outside world and created their own cloistered world in a country cottage. Londoners Leah (Rea Mole), Charlotte (Hannah Arterton), and Max (Josh O'Connor, BRIDGEND) along with New Englander Jack (director Joanna Coates' husband Daniel Metz, COMPUTER CHESS) are virtual strangers who seek to get to know each other through evening entertainments (role-playing, life drawing, truth games, and various performances) and have a rotation schedule for who shares the marital bed nightly during which the participants are free to explore their sexual fantasies free from judgment. Just by his American accent, mischievous smile, and outgoing nature, Jack seems to be the more pushy and manipulative, but the shy Leah seems to find a sense of freedom in being pushed out of her comfort zone, the more reserved Max responds in a more passive aggressive manner, while the creatively-stifled Charlotte explores her performance abilities. We are offered little-to-no insight into their pasts, but the sudden arrival of Charlotte's rocker ex Simon (Joe Banks) finds the group shutting down, reluctant to talk about their arrangements (describing them as silly). When it looks like Simon may take Charlotte away from them, they turn on him and their subsequent games find them pushing the boundaries of their in-progress utopia. The game-playing of the characters is more stimulating than the tiresome cinematic game-playing of the filmmakers who imagine that these four characters are interesting with only the slightest of suggested backstory. Whether we are supposed to surmise that the reasons the characters have withdrawn from society may be trivial, only Atherton and Mole are able to communicate a sense of pain associated with their former lives while Metz's New Englander seems to have grown bored with others. A longer film might have made the characters more interesting even without flashbacks or direct reference to who they are and who they want to become, but the finished film's ellipses seem motivated more by rhythm than content with only the extreme beauty of its minimalist imagery to distinguish it from what we know as "mumblecore". |
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Theatrical Release: 4 October 2014 (USA)
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DVD Review: Film Movement - Region 1 - NTSC
Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!
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Distribution |
Film Movement Region 1 - NTSC |
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Runtime | 1:23:39 | |
Video |
1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Audio | English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo | |
Subtitles | none | |
Features |
Release
Information: Studio: Film Movement Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 12 |
Comments |
Film Movement's DVD offers an attractive dual-layer, progressive, anamorphic encode of the film's dark and naturalistic look while the dialogue-heavy soundtrack (with occasional vocals sung on set by the actors) is well-rendered in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. English Closed Captions are provided for those who can access them. The only extras are the film's trailer and previews for other Film Movement releases. |
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Distribution |
Film Movement Region 1 - NTSC |
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