Short fi lm of the month

Aft er an expeditious surface onto the scene from small production company, Assenav Productions, Fast Love presents viewers with a comedic truthfulness to the well-known speed- dating format. It encapsulates exactly the reasons why most of us would favour the more conventional techniques of romantic bonding. Impactful from the fi rst few seconds of the short, character John (Ben Nash) thrusts an assortment of opinionated statements about his personal views on the matter. Th e start is close to totally misleading, as a low-saturation eff ect combined with a monotonous voice-over infers the protagonist as a somewhat dark character. However, we soon realise otherwise. Th e dynamic contrast of characters throughout the fi lm gives a sense of the diversifi cation witnessed in speed dating. We go from a middle-aged woman seemingly snatched back from the terrible Tudor times, all the way to a proud homosexual young man with an ego to match. Deliverance of each line is crucial to identifying exactly who these people are and how their attitudes contrast to John’s. We take each character as somewhat unique with a twang of dysfunctional social skills. Apart from John (Ben Nash), who seems contrastingly competent as well as uncomfortable

46 | Sight & Sound | January 2014

Quick exchanges

Fast LoveAssenav, 2014

every frame his delightful blue eyes grace the screen. John is an incredibly average man, residing perfectly in the middle of social standard. Disappointingly, his character seems to prove a hindrance rather than an asset, as he fi lls the room with awkwardness over relatability to the quotidian man. Th e personality wheel of fortune spins, and lands on Holly, (Georgina Hilton, making a premiere short fi lm appearance) who seems unable to prevent her arrogant and pretentious attitude from throwing physical gestures of disgust and dismissal onto

the romantically challenged cohort. Each fl utter of her materialistic eyelashes urges us to lean forward and slap the ego out of her, yet simultaneously we are oddly soothed by her innocence. Th e glass dings and we move onto the next contestant. Molly (Th eresa Roche) is clearly encountering diffi culty fi nding her match, and it’s easy to see why. Molly is an eco-warrior, regurgitating

fi gures relating to how little we all apparently give a shit about the planet. Th e camera and her share a propinquity unmatched by the other characters, as Molly suff ocates us, we forget that John is actually the one opening his mouth for the audible locomotive. How we laugh at this man’s misfortune. Elaborating on this interesting shot sequence style, at fi rst glance, the cinematography forms an interesting connection to the viewers. It certainly challenges typical conventions; every shot uses an innovative modus operandi, seizing us by the throat and shoving us in front of the characters. We juggle between John and his date a numbers of times, and for every sequence, we draw another impression from the presence of body language and facial contortion. Th is close proximity adds another dimension. It would be unjustifi able not to comment on Polly’s (Sue Williams) performance. Fitting the role of a somewhat mature woman, her subtly raunchy attitude and suggestiveness makes or skin crawl whilst we chuckle empathetically at the protagonist’s situation. Her opening line of “You alright there, sweetheart?” is uttered with a thick layer of velvety sexual intent. Th is melting pot of trauma and comedy pours into the scene, to make an interesting combination. It’s not just the camera-work that attempts to step away from elements of mainstream

The uncomfortable pain John feels translates to the audience whilst injecting comedy wherever possible, but we’re not spoon-fed incessant jokes

A MACABRE CROWDJohn (Ben Nash), above and right, is noticably highly uncomfortable while “spating”, especially when opposite a fl irtacious mature woman, Polly (Sue Williams), below

Assenav Production’s ‘Fast Love’ demonstrates exactly why most of us would choose not to venture along the unorthodox romantic method of speed dating, or ‘spating’, says James Daniel