Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"SLR" is an award-winning, 2013 23-minute short film from the UK written and directed by Stephen Fingleton. He had his breakthrough recently with "The Survivalist" and can call himself a BAFTA nominee now. The star in this 3-year-old short film is Liam Cunningham and while I am not a great fan of "Game of Thrones", I can still appreciate him as an actor. He did a fine job in this movie here and same goes for the supporting cast. It shows that they are all fairly experienced already for their young ages. Anyway, this one is about a father with a voyeuristic tendency whose world changes when he realizes he is watching his child on one of the pictures online. Obviously next thing for him is finding the guy who made these photos. Fairly good movie without any greatness really, but Fingleton's talent is visible. I recommend checking it out.
Theo Robertson
Elliot Pane is a man with a very unsavoury hobby . He takes pictures of scantily clad young woman and posts them up on a voyeuristic website . One day he visits the website and is shocked to find that one of the victims featured is his own teenage daughter SLR is written and directed by Stephen Fingleton and is based along the lines of that infamous urban legend where a bloke comes back from the pub drunk and finds his flat mate rogering a woman from behind and is invited to take over and as soon as he's started the woman turns round and said bloke is shocked to discover that the woman in fact is his own sister . This myth was popular enough for the likes of FHM and Loaded to publish requests that people stop sending in this anecdote because it was old hat and this was away back in the mid 1990s As I said this is an extention of this myth and becomes a tale of revenge . If you think it's something of stretch believing some old perv wanting to extract revenge against a similar minded individual stop to consider the happenings on the nonce wing of a prison where paedophiles who molest other peoples kids view paedophiles who molest their own kids as having stepped over a line in to depravity and are subject to a violent self righteous kicking . Those who molest their kids see their opposite numbers in the same outraged light . It's the same with a serial rapist would view a child killer and if the evil of these criminals isn't enough to churn your stomach their hypocrisy will so Elliot Pane's motives are strikingly realistic There is however a problem with all this and that's Stephen's film is perhaps a little too effective due to the material . Liam Cunningham as Pane is very well cast indeed . I'm pretty certain he's a great guy in real life but I've always found him menacing and creepy in everything he's been in and SLR is no exception especially since he plays a voyeur . He doesn't need to say much as his haunted , gaunt wrinkled face does all the talking and despite not doing much with the camera Stephen Fingleton makes a effective short film that is so effective that you might want to take a long hot shower and scrub yourself with disinfectant after seeing it
bob the moo
A man who is a heavy online user of real life voyeur shots has his teenage daughter come and stay with him shortly before she heads off to university. This is the basic plot and it is perhaps no great surprise to learn that the presence of the man's daughter is somehow going to trigger action regarding the online shots. I had assumed that she would show up in one of them and true enough this was the case. Despite the plot going as I assumed, it does still just about work because it is well delivered and has a good somber ending.The story takes a patient pace and makes it very much about Elliot's feelings towards himself than it does about the Anorak in particular. This makes the film more engaging and also makes the conclusion more satisfying and meaningful – because shame is only usually temporary and the addiction returns. This approach also gives Cunningham more to work with and he does a good job of holding the attention as a flawed character. His anger is outward in terms of what his actions say but Cunningham does well to show us that it is inward too, albeit less obviously. Support is fine from Wren and fellow Game of Thrones actor Dormer. Fingleton's direction is patience and well done, with good cinematography and a sense of tension and dirtiness in some regards.The film never totally gets away from the obvious narrative device and coincidence but it has enough to hold the interest as it is atmospheric and features a very good turn from Cunningham.
riverwildeuk
It is safe to say that Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) is one of the most watch-able actors working in Film and TV today that is if the material is good. He definitely does not disappoint here. The story revolves around the world of a voyeur where the protagonist's 'behind closed doors' fetish invades his life and the predator becomes the prey. Despite the predictable main plot and the obvious complications and resolution of that; it is the ending that holds your attention and Stephen Fingleton makes an interesting observation, if not indictment, about the world of social media. The directing is adequate, with a few sensible editorial choices, in telling the story but is lifted by the central performance of Liam Cunningham whom you cannot help but sympathize with at times. S.L.R. is on par with a decent thriller, I say decent because it is guilty of telegraphing its red-herrings and tension plot points and is actually saved by the plot and Liam Cunningham and Amy Wren's, sadly and understandably under-used, performance.