Synopsis

“Someone much wiser than me once said that hindsight was a glorious thing. A chance to line our choices in front of us and show how every decision affected the outcome of our life”.

‘Solitude’ is a thought provoking short five-minute drama following the moments between life and death, looking back at your life and regrets before finally accepting that death is nothing to be afraid of.

Following a dying man in hospital, we witness his death and are taken into a bleak empty space where he sees his younger self. The child takes him back to re-live his first experience of death, a dead rabbit. As the child stares at the dead rabbit, the elder narrates over what is happening, explaining how he became fascinated by the grandest mystery of all, death. As the memory fades away, we are taken forward to a memory of a near death experience that his brother had. The child asks him questions, such as “What is it like to die?” further continuing his strive to understand the concept of death. As we are taken back to the empty space, the man talks to his younger self about death, and finally accepts the fact that he has lived life to the full and that death is natural. At the end, the man decides that it is time and passes away. These scenes are set in three locations, a hospital, an empty, endless space representing limbo and a wood where the man recalls his first experience of death. The hospital and woods represent an idea of fear, isolation and the concept of life and death (life circle).

Although the overall theme for this film is upsetting, it is something that everyone can relate to, therefore making the characters involved in the film on the whole more powerful and relevant to the audience as they could easily associate themselves, or people they know with the concept of death. The dark nature of the film really contrasts with the uplifting ending, as the elder dies we can see that he is happy, in turn creating more of an emotional impression on the audience, hopefully giving them something to think about after they’ve seen ‘Solitude’. In short, members of the audience will definitely care about characters in my film, as they symbolise the futile battle that every human has against death. Furthermore, the characters represent the audience directly and people they know, such as elderly relatives or children.

In terms of style, my film takes inspiration from films such as Steve McQueen’s ‘Hunger’ for the hospital scenes and Shane Meadow’s ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ for the drama and hard hitting tension built by narratives, I feel that this film would fit in well with the independent British film scene. The use of fluid steadicam shots, interesting cinematography, powerful acting and hard-hitting narratives really reinforce this point, helping to make my film follow the conventions of real existing products that, like my film, are targeted to a niche market.

Hal Smith directs ‘Solitude’.