Short films are really no different from feature films in the way that people will love them for the same reasons that others hate them. Momentum has the potential to be divisive in this way because it really depends on how you react to Patrick as to whether or not you'll like this film. We open with Patrick talking to camera about his experience at a disco where he was not dancing but, with the help of the chips and dips table, suddenly he was moving and dancing and loving it. This opening scene then leads into dance sequences mixed with effects and Patrick's (onscreen) mother.
For me, this film put me on edge from the very start and I never got back to it. Patrick isn't speaking like a regular person but rather in an overly directed and scripted manner which is only made more obvious by the excessive gestures and frequent edits during a simple monologue. The film needs him to speak from the heart and draw us in but for me it was difficult not to see him as rather pretentious. This continues into the rest of the film because although the dancing is full of energy, it is not particularly inspiring – Shoko Ito I guess is meant to reinforce the idea of just letting go and enjoying the movement, but the truth is that she dances like me – self consciously pulling faces the whole film and generally seemed awkward. The visual effects and the use of leaves etc didn't add much of anything, and the face painting just felt weird.
Not sure what the film was meant to convey but it put me off from the start with its overly deliberate and pretentious air and from there didn't offer much different.
For me, this film put me on edge from the very start and I never got back to it. Patrick isn't speaking like a regular person but rather in an overly directed and scripted manner which is only made more obvious by the excessive gestures and frequent edits during a simple monologue. The film needs him to speak from the heart and draw us in but for me it was difficult not to see him as rather pretentious. This continues into the rest of the film because although the dancing is full of energy, it is not particularly inspiring – Shoko Ito I guess is meant to reinforce the idea of just letting go and enjoying the movement, but the truth is that she dances like me – self consciously pulling faces the whole film and generally seemed awkward. The visual effects and the use of leaves etc didn't add much of anything, and the face painting just felt weird.
Not sure what the film was meant to convey but it put me off from the start with its overly deliberate and pretentious air and from there didn't offer much different.
