Different is good The new generation is the new creation. The spirit of youth of the 21st century has greatly touched the cinema. But, unfortunately, as it was “in Russia”, the young and modern are often compared with the past gold heritage and evaluated quite critically. No reason. Unsuccessful examples are always easy to pick up, but for more valuable ones you need to dig in a haystack, and then you find young, promising and daring talents.
A little introduction. I’m not going to say that 20-year-old blogger Berty Gilbert, who shoots a stream of short films, is someone everyone should know. Upon learning that he was quite popular with YouTube teens, I decided to check out a couple of his films to get a better idea of Gilbert and his work. And I will say that Bertie Gilbert is one of those young creatives who does something on their own initiative, out of improvised means, awkwardly, but with great zeal, which, personally, inspires me madly to get away from my chair and create here and now.
I started the summer short film marathon with The 56 Year Old Boy. The story is about a girl, Molly, who needs to write about some interesting person for a school article, before the delivery of which there is nothing. Not so much interesting as not from this world. She asks for advice from her mother, and she tells her that she read in the newspaper about a guy who looks 16, but claims to be 56 and also dresses like he was from the past. Molly visits 56-year-old Patrick (Berty Gilbert) and tries to interview him to have something to write about, but she does not believe the young man to the end and therefore all the time something goes wrong.
Throughout most of the film, some awkwardness or inexperience is felt in some places, somewhere damp, but the character of the main character is conceived, so the gaps in the actors’ play become not so important. But I would still like to highlight the rather charming game of Gilbert himself. Thanks to him, the hero himself fascinates. The young cast, the young director – the simplicity of the story and the youthful maximalism are not annoying, and if they are annoying, then as it should be, and in the end, because of all this shakyness, you do not even know whether you believe Patrick’s stories or not. This is not something brilliant, but with an easy claim that will linger in your memory for a while. Separately, I want to note that unlike other short films by Gilbert, this one looks professional and the whole production is above the level, there are no awkward “empty” shots, everything looks organic.
Regarding the musical and visual design, I can not say anything, everything is neat, simple and pleasant to the eye. As with the rest of Gilbert’s work.
But, after all, if you see such a curious name on the list as "The 56 Year Old Boy", you expect more dialogue, in this case - a dialogue of generations. Yes, history appeals to the idea that people like Patrick may live among us (perhaps even closer than we think), but no one notices them. Pretty strong idea. But in reality, for almost 10 minutes we look at the surprise and distrust of the main character and not very convincing arguments of the ageless guy. And a little love game. I love British cinema because it is always very natural, there is no feeling of an actor for an actor, a shot for an epic, etc. There is always a pleasant languid aftertaste, but personally I did not have enough depth. It is good that Gilbert still has everything ahead.
7 out of 10