Friday, November 16, 2007

Cashback



I just finished watching the movie Cashback with Amanda. I must say I was really impressed. I was thinking this was going to be a long movie and not interesting. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The movie begins after Ben, an artist at a university, breaks up with his girlfriend. Because he is so distraught by this, he becomes an insomniac. He eventually gets a job working the late shift at a local grocery store in order to pass the time away.

He eventually learns to slow down time and eventually stop it and literally live in a second. This is how he is able to draw and eventually paint such exquisite pieces. The stopping of time plays the most important role in the film and is used as an analogy for the audience.

The movie features a really strong narration as Ben explains how he creates his art. His muse? Women of course.



The movie features special effects and utilizes slow motion a lot.

My only complaint is the overuse of nudity, which borders on pornographic, to explain Ben's fascination with the female form. A fascination which he's had since he was a child and became mesmerized by the Swedish foreign exchange student living in his house.

The only reason why I think the nudity is in excess is because the narration is so strong, so beautiful, that having such strong imagery kind of distracts from the narration.



"You just have to see that love is wrapped in beauty and hidden away in between the seconds of your life. If you don't stop for a minute, you might miss it"

Beautiful film. ***A***

1 comment:

Justin Scott said...

this is so weird... i bought Cashback a few years ago, it was an Oscar Short Film nomination. I didn't know there was a full feature! Glad you posted this, the short film was great, I can't wait to see the full feature!