Sometimes I Think About Dying

source: Sometimes I Think About Dying

I can understand that it is a character study, but this has the feel of an indie film and most of it is filled with awkward pauses and feeble attempts at humor. The first 25 minutes were an elongated introduction, but even so I failed to recognize what the story was. I ended up turning this off at the one hour mark. As for the character who plays Robert, the love interest, he's not compelling enough to help bring a positive light to this film's murky atmosphere. The music was actually pretty upbeat considering how depressing the main character's life is. Other than that there's not much to praise.

The energy of this film is in its stillness. Sparse dialogue. No driving, linear narrative. The camera is perpetually stationary. Almost nothing is loud or abrupt. But it hums restlessly with quiet anxiety. Your attention is never commanded, but your interest is rewarded. Fran is the subject of your observation, and she is in everything subtle and restrained. Every modulation of body language, shade of facial expression, and placement of gaze dispenses information. You are with her constantly and quickly become intimate. You consider her, wonder at her. You empathize with her; you're confused by her. You don't have to understand her. You simply see what she sees and feel what she feels. You are there when she is tense and afraid, when she allows herself to smile, when she indulges her desire and when she represses it. She's a particularly vulnerable human, and you are there in the midst of all of it. This film and its protagonist are beautifully small, shy, and fragile, and watching it is compelling if you can feel the weight of responsibility that comes with so intimately witnessing a person in their intense vulnerability. Sometimes I Think About Dying feels precious in its plain honesty and total vulnerability. It's not a story, just a person.

If they developed it a bit more. A lot more, actually. It feels like a short movie's being stretched to a full length feature. First 30 minutes is basically an intro and you can easily cut it down to 10. Then we get a glimpse of what could have been cause Daisy is great, Dave is great and together they're great. Unfortunately they're just not getting enough screen time. Instead we're getting tons of random shots of city, nature and everything in between. And then after all that the director just dumps the ending and the message. Cause it was time to wrap the movie up, I guess. It also filmed in that terrible modern "indie" style with 1.33:1 ratio and percussion soundtrack that just sucks any resemblance of life out of the picture. The result is dull and lifeless. What a shame.