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SIMONE Review -- Chris Conduit |
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| Written by Frazer Lee and directed by Joops Fragale, SIMONE is another entry in THE CONDUIT's growing list of short film reviews. There must have been a full moon yesterday because I was bombarded with offers to take a look at these bite sized genre morsels. Offers that I fear have led me to an unhealthy obsession with these quick hit bits of celluloid. Requiring the third of the commitment of a full length feature; I'm finding these viewing experiences, thus far, to be just what my emotionally weary soul needs. It's also a great way to get a feel for the artist in small doses. That way if they suck, I've not wasted a substantial part of my day. SIMONE is a very bleak one person character study. Centering on (of course) Simone as she slowly begins to piece together the previous night's happenings and how she got where she is. She wakes up, pries her eyes open, and begins to awkwardly stumble around the apartment. She's pretty filthy, makeup smeared, half-naked, and totally hug over. Through a series of quick flashes in her mind and some nice over-layed audio cues, things become a bit clearer to both her and the viewer. Seems Simone was out the previous night "clubbing" it up with some friends, got piss drunk, hooked up, and dipped out. As the pieces of her somewhat shattered memory begin to fall into place, our dear sweet girl confronts a very gruesome reality. As I said previously, SIMONE is a one person vehicle. In the titular role, Jennifer Ward is quite good. Actually she's pretty damn fantastic. She really relays all of the confusion, fear, and dread that the character calls for. There are really a shit ton of emotions she needs to feed the audience because of the time shifts between past and present. I was more than on board with both her and the narrative's path. Fragale really has a frenetic command of the lens, and although there were a few "hotshot" edits, they worked; really well. The story itself, although nothing groundbreaking, was very thoughtfully constructed and a lot of fun to watch unfold. If SIMONE suffers from anything, it's the films title card and the very last frame. However, I've never been one to say that the final shot ruined a whole film for me; and in SIMONE's case, it certainly did not. Without revealing too much, there's an element in said title card that clued me in big time regarding the film's "twist." It could have done wonders (in my case) if this had been ommited. As for the final shot, I don't know if it was planned all along, or something the filmmakers felt they NEEDED to do; I just wish more artists would heed the old adage: LESS IS MORE. I understand that the feeling is that a certain type of scare (however cheap) works more often than not. I also get why they showed what they did at the end. I just would have loved to have seen them stay more true to the moody emotionally driven horror film they had constructed. That being said, for me, those were two minor issues in an all together enjoyable film. With a score that REALLY mimicked and influenced the story's emotion, a stellar performance from Miss Ward, and Fragale's clear grasp of his craft; SIMONE was a very enjoyable bite sized bit of genre goodness. 7/10 |
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