GSFF: Spiral & Duck Daze
We took a look at two of the darkest films featured in Glasgow Short Film Festival.
Spiral: A wild and gory ride on a loop
James Price's Spiral is like Groundhog Day with the bedlam of Taxi Driver
Consider this; it is a boring workday, you just want it to end and are eagerly looking forward to the weekend, but sadly you wake up to the same dull day again and again and again. Stuck in a torturous time loop, you slowly start to lose sense of yourself and the reality you inhabit. This is how one could describe the psychological horror Spiral and its eventual descent into bloody madness. It’s a dark Glaswegian thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Spiral tracks the story of a man living in a Glasgow high rise apartment. The place is shady and filled with questionable characters. He wakes up one morning, checks the time and goes about his daily activities. Over the course of the day, he encounters two residents snorting cocaine openly, a girl asking him for directions outside the building, an innocuous saleswoman attempting to get his attention and a mailman. The real quandary arises when he wakes up the next day to encounter the same things again, confused at first, he eventually figures that he is stuck in a time loop and decides to live out his wildest fantasies because why not?
The short is fast-paced and leaves no time getting right into the action. The montage of events that follow after the protagonist realises his situation is hilarious, thrilling and filled with gore, coupled with an upbeat soundtrack, this makes for the most entertaining sequence of the film. The colour-grading fits perfectly with the foreboding feel of the film. Conor Mccarron shines as the protagonist and delivers the wild emotions of the character with great success.
According to the director the pitch for Spiral was Groundhog Day meets Taxi Driver. He wanted to explore the idea where the person who is stuck in the time loop isn't necessarily friendly and happy-go-lucky. This short fiercely traverses the themes of morality and subdued feelings and explores the things you would do if you had the liberty of starting fresh the next day. It reiterates the fact that the choices you make in life are yours, along with the consequences that come with it which are also yours to bear.
This is a fun, gut-churning and anxiety-inducing film. The twist comes at the end and you wish it didn't just end right away. You are left with the need to know more about the main protagonist and what happens with him next. "Filmmaking should be fun and Spiral was a real reminder of how much fun it could be," says James Price. This would make an entertaining feature film exploring more character arcs and filled with added blood-soaked madness. Obviously not for the people of Easterhouse and Possil where this film stands banned.
Duck Daze: Confronting the past with the help of a wayward duck
Trauma takes on a strange yet comforting form in Duck Daze.
"Don't talk about it", "What would people think of us?”, “Just forget about it"; we often hear these things in murmurs, whispers and stern warnings when we deal with uncomfortable and sensitive situations. The first advice is always to let it go because we live in the constant fear of being shunned by our loved ones and by society. We learn to bury our feelings and learn to live with it, pretending like it never happened. Duck Daze offers a refreshing take on this subject; where repressed feelings resurface with a little help from a large black duck.
Johnina, a friendly woman played by Daniela Nardini is visiting her homeland on the Isle of Lewis, the place she grew up and the place that she grew to hate because of the distressing memories attached to it. The small island town itself is dull, gloomy and filled with a tight-knit group of religious people. These people spare no time in reminding her that she is an outcast with their stink eye and uneasy looks. She is visiting for her father’s funeral. Her mother at her childhood home is aloof and there seems no connection whatsoever between the mother-daughter duo.
She struggles while she is in the house. While her mother is busy making funeral arrangements, Johnina is battling her own demons that have resurfaced. We find out how her trauma is connected to the house and its inhabitants. Every nook and corner of her childhood home remind her of all the bad feelings and memories, which makes her more and more anxious over time. There is a beautiful painting of a farm duck in her tiny living room. While Johnina is clearly having an anxiety attack, the duck jumps out from the painting and makes its way outside the house with Johnina running behind it.
This film clearly deals with the themes of trauma, grief and repressed emotions. Johnina cannot put her feelings into words, she is someone who uses emojis in order to escape the simple question of How are you? in text messages even if the question comes from her own daughter. The scene where she runs behind the duck is symbolic of how she has been dealing with her trauma. The painting is perfect enough to wow the onlookers, Johnina tries to catch the duck thinking she could put it back into the painting and make it normal again. The same way she tries to be normal in order to paint a picture-perfect life to the people in the society. But this time she decides to act differently and this time she deals with her emotions.
Set on a small island in Glasgow, this film is shot beautifully by Alison Piper setting the right pace for the dark and gloomy mood of the film. All the emotions are perfectly captured and worded in English and Scottish Gaelic by the writer, Julia Taudevin. This film manages to explore a sensitive topic with wit and humour, providing a hopeful end. The cast is brilliant and Daniela Nardini does justice to the role, managing to stun us with her magnetic performance.
We all watch movies to feel things that we’ve never felt before. The catharsis that comes with Johnina finally coming to terms with her emotions and dealing with it, is truly satisfying.
The film fulfils its important goal of turning an uncomfortable subject matter into emotionally rewarding viewing. It acts as a reminder that it is better to explore our emotions and deal with them, rather than repressing them. This exploration could be as simple as having an honest chat with a loved one or shaping those feelings into cute animals and setting them free.
Written by Aliefya Fida, Edited by Maddy Sinclair.
Twitter: @jamespricefilm
Instagram: @priceyfilms
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