SCREEN SHOT - Rose Of Nevada

 

A fishing boat reappears in a once prosperous Cornish fishing village that is now in terminal decline. The Rose of Nevada was thought lost at sea twenty years ago. The original boat owner, after he gets over the shock of its return, decides to start using it again for fishing. 'Shall we try again' he says ominously. Recruiting an old sea dog he vaguely recognise as Captain, who then finds the enigmatic Liam, and employs Nick, a straightforward family man who just needs to earn some money to repair a collapsed roof in his home. Once out on the ocean they quickly learn the ropes of sea fishing, casting nets, gutting and preserving fish in ice, until the galley is full and they can return to port. But the port they return to is not the fishing village of the present day, but the busy active one of twenty years previous. Liam seems to quickly adjusts to the period and lifestyle, whilst Nick feels trapped, becoming increasingly desperate to return to the family he's left behind. There is a sense that something here, much larger than them, is wanting restitution.

Mark Jenkin's third film is a real feast for the eyes and ears. Brilliantly executed, it is the most confident and expressionistic movie he's made so far. At times it has the style, quality and visual poetics of Tarkovsky, with the highly amplified reverberating sound quality of early David Lynch, where even small natural sounds can become hugely foreboding. It also has some really stunning rough hewn cinematography and sharply edited sequences.  Beautifully constructed shots capturing the tough unyielding lifestyle of a sea fisherman, the orange crust of rusting machinery, the rumbling spindled colours of ropes, the creaking clanging noises of chains, wheels and cranks, the sounds of boots or fish landing heavily on deck. One of the qualities of Jenkin's film making technique, is that he is able to overlay the sound design on top of his hand cranked film. This he can then highlight and focus the ears on specific sounds, with greater clarity of purpose. Sound in this film, more than in any of his previous films, has almost a visually evocative quality. On this movie it's epic, managing to be both small and panoramic in scale. It does most of the heavy lifting for the storytelling. 

At the core of this film, are interrupted, if not shattered relationships, between parents and a son, between fishermen and their families, of lives and communities literally torn apart by tragedy. The sense of yearning and existential distress of Nick, is conveyed by some superlative acting from George McKay. His visible facial and bodily responses tell you all you need to know about his emotional state of mind. The dialogue in this movie is generally a secondary player, that gives away little about the story arc. The tale is told largely through sound and visual imagery. However, the final piece of dialogue at the end of the movie, from the mouth of Nick's wife that 'there is no time', does speak volumes. This is a film so rich in tiny but important details, that I dare say it will bare repeat viewing. An utterly captivating film, that left me feeling quite moved and exhilarated simultaneously. It is one of those films that continues to haunt your imagination afterwards.

CARROT REVIEW - 7/8