'Augustina' is the 18-minute story of a teenage girl whose estranged father is a violent abuser of his partner. She (Kaylee, the girl) develops an emotional attachment to an educational baby doll (Augustina).
This is an independent short on which a friend of mine had a significant role (not a part) so I'm aware that not being wildly enthusiastic could be quite hurtful; but if it was my film I'd rather get honest criticism than be ignored. Would I see another film made by them? Absolutely.
Good bits: it looks, sounds and feels very professional indeed - if someone said this was an early Mike Leigh or whoever you wouldn't doubt it.
Problematic bits: A child lead; god bless her she does her best, but child actors tend to scream 'CHILD ACTOR!!!!' louder than anything that's in the script. Kudos to the team for getting even a half-convincing performance from a teenage ensemble. However, my main problem with Augustina is that I don't get a feeling of suspense beyond wondering how it's going to turn out. I see an unhappy schoolgirl getting sex education; beyond that there doesn't seem to be anything at stake, and there's nothing to make me think I should care about her beyond that she seems nice, looks sad, and is a pretty girl. That happens every day.
The other issue is that the abusive father doesn't come into it until halfway, by which time you've already been trying to make up your mind about how it should turn out, and so the violence seems kind of out of context and gratuitous - I was waiting for the doll to come alive, and when it did this was very well done, and not in the horror way you might expect.
What I would have done: start with the violent partner from the off, to polarise Kaylee's character, make her more sympathetic, and give a sense that she's maybe going to have sex in an act of rebellion, or even find some way of getting revenge. Maybe it's not supposed to be like that, and is supposed to subvert expectations, but for the first half Augustina gave me no clues, pointers or expectations to subvert. No sense of mystery, either, beyond 'what's going to happen?'.
Anyway, I quite understand if my friend won't speak to me again, but I know they wouldn't put up with BS. Which is why the next one will be better yet.
This is an independent short on which a friend of mine had a significant role (not a part) so I'm aware that not being wildly enthusiastic could be quite hurtful; but if it was my film I'd rather get honest criticism than be ignored. Would I see another film made by them? Absolutely.
Good bits: it looks, sounds and feels very professional indeed - if someone said this was an early Mike Leigh or whoever you wouldn't doubt it.
Problematic bits: A child lead; god bless her she does her best, but child actors tend to scream 'CHILD ACTOR!!!!' louder than anything that's in the script. Kudos to the team for getting even a half-convincing performance from a teenage ensemble. However, my main problem with Augustina is that I don't get a feeling of suspense beyond wondering how it's going to turn out. I see an unhappy schoolgirl getting sex education; beyond that there doesn't seem to be anything at stake, and there's nothing to make me think I should care about her beyond that she seems nice, looks sad, and is a pretty girl. That happens every day.
The other issue is that the abusive father doesn't come into it until halfway, by which time you've already been trying to make up your mind about how it should turn out, and so the violence seems kind of out of context and gratuitous - I was waiting for the doll to come alive, and when it did this was very well done, and not in the horror way you might expect.
What I would have done: start with the violent partner from the off, to polarise Kaylee's character, make her more sympathetic, and give a sense that she's maybe going to have sex in an act of rebellion, or even find some way of getting revenge. Maybe it's not supposed to be like that, and is supposed to subvert expectations, but for the first half Augustina gave me no clues, pointers or expectations to subvert. No sense of mystery, either, beyond 'what's going to happen?'.
Anyway, I quite understand if my friend won't speak to me again, but I know they wouldn't put up with BS. Which is why the next one will be better yet.