Director:
Chris LaMartina
Genre:
Horror
Length:
Feature
Festival:
Terror Film Festival October 2007 in Philadelphia.
Score:
4/5
As a screenwriting teacher I am always reminding my students that the art of writing for the screen primarily involves telling stories with pictures because, after all, when we talk about movies, we are really talking about motion pictures and, to employ a tired old cliché, pictures tell a thousand words.
This is a lesson that writer/producer/director Robert Andersen and cinematographer JR Skola, incidentally not students of mine, have learned exceptionally well. The first four minutes of the twenty minute film are completely dialogue free, the whole story, everything the viewer needs to know is revealed in rich, provocative imagery. The fading seaside town, from which the film takes its name, serves as a metaphor for protagonist Colin (Chance Harlem Jr.) when we first meet him: hollow, haunted, damaged but clearly, with effort, a little luck and some TLC, still full of potential.
Colin returns to his mother’s modest (Robyn Hatcher) home after a two year absence. While she is overwhelmed to see him, acknowledging the first line of the film, Colin’s “I’m still your baby” with the kind of hug that only a mother can deliver. Unfortunately, Colin’s older brother Daryl (Garrett Hendricks) feelings are not as warm as he still harbors deep resentment and pain over the incident the precipitated Colin’s departure.
“Asbury Park” is about complicated emotions and the challenges of family dynamics in the face of a difficult situation and it dares the audience to relate to the scenario as if they were in it, to put themselves in the shoes of all the characters as they struggle to come to terms with one another.
Uniformly great performances from the cast, stunning cinematography and wise direction really add up to a rich, remarkable, moving and provocative film. The only thing that I could wish from it is that it was a full length feature.
Chris LaMartina
Genre:
Horror
Length:
Feature
Festival:
Terror Film Festival October 2007 in Philadelphia.
Score:
4/5
As a screenwriting teacher I am always reminding my students that the art of writing for the screen primarily involves telling stories with pictures because, after all, when we talk about movies, we are really talking about motion pictures and, to employ a tired old cliché, pictures tell a thousand words.
This is a lesson that writer/producer/director Robert Andersen and cinematographer JR Skola, incidentally not students of mine, have learned exceptionally well. The first four minutes of the twenty minute film are completely dialogue free, the whole story, everything the viewer needs to know is revealed in rich, provocative imagery. The fading seaside town, from which the film takes its name, serves as a metaphor for protagonist Colin (Chance Harlem Jr.) when we first meet him: hollow, haunted, damaged but clearly, with effort, a little luck and some TLC, still full of potential.
Colin returns to his mother’s modest (Robyn Hatcher) home after a two year absence. While she is overwhelmed to see him, acknowledging the first line of the film, Colin’s “I’m still your baby” with the kind of hug that only a mother can deliver. Unfortunately, Colin’s older brother Daryl (Garrett Hendricks) feelings are not as warm as he still harbors deep resentment and pain over the incident the precipitated Colin’s departure.
“Asbury Park” is about complicated emotions and the challenges of family dynamics in the face of a difficult situation and it dares the audience to relate to the scenario as if they were in it, to put themselves in the shoes of all the characters as they struggle to come to terms with one another.
Uniformly great performances from the cast, stunning cinematography and wise direction really add up to a rich, remarkable, moving and provocative film. The only thing that I could wish from it is that it was a full length feature.