Until recently I had skipped the films in this series which were not really part of the series but had come in from other places. I'm not sure what triggered them to be made, or meant that the Sonnet Project NY hosted them as part of the whole, but I hadn't watched them. Part of me felt that they were not helping the Project towards their goal, and were repeating sonnets already covered, so I was less interested in them. A pointless opinion to have over films only a few minutes long! With the main season finally delivering another film after a 9 month wait, I decided to check out some of the US and international films that I hadn't seen.
In the main series this sonnet had been delivered in a warm film, with a genuine feel and some bigger names in the cast; so as with some of the other non-New York specials dropped into the series release, I wondered what the goal was to have this film repeat the text rather than do another one and try to move the series along. I also thought it a bit weird that a sonnet about being at a loss for words and unable to just come out and say something, would be set in Australia - a county where I rarely found people to be shrinking violets in any way. The idea here is nice though - a man and a woman on a date; we see them flirt and mess around, but with frequent cuts to him delivering the sonnet text in a much more serious way, showing that he feels more than the outward 'coolness' may initially suggest. As an idea it links the text to the modern age well, with the obsession over seeming 'too keen' such as with the oft-used sitcom trope of waiting to reply to text messages etc.
The delivery is not quite as good as the idea, but it is still pretty decent. The difference in tone between the date man, and the sonnet man, is too great I think - it jars when he jumps to the lines by comparison. Towards the end of the film the link is better but it is a bit too far for the most part, and I would have liked him to be less 'wacky' on some of the date, and more 'normal nervous bloke' on the text. The couple work well together in their eyes and gestures - a bit sappy, but they work. The film gives a nice tour of Sydney too, even if it doesn't fit the norm of the films in the main series. Despite my misgivings about some aspects of it, the film is mostly an engagingly good idea which makes the text more accessible and relevant - which is after all the core idea of the series.
In the main series this sonnet had been delivered in a warm film, with a genuine feel and some bigger names in the cast; so as with some of the other non-New York specials dropped into the series release, I wondered what the goal was to have this film repeat the text rather than do another one and try to move the series along. I also thought it a bit weird that a sonnet about being at a loss for words and unable to just come out and say something, would be set in Australia - a county where I rarely found people to be shrinking violets in any way. The idea here is nice though - a man and a woman on a date; we see them flirt and mess around, but with frequent cuts to him delivering the sonnet text in a much more serious way, showing that he feels more than the outward 'coolness' may initially suggest. As an idea it links the text to the modern age well, with the obsession over seeming 'too keen' such as with the oft-used sitcom trope of waiting to reply to text messages etc.
The delivery is not quite as good as the idea, but it is still pretty decent. The difference in tone between the date man, and the sonnet man, is too great I think - it jars when he jumps to the lines by comparison. Towards the end of the film the link is better but it is a bit too far for the most part, and I would have liked him to be less 'wacky' on some of the date, and more 'normal nervous bloke' on the text. The couple work well together in their eyes and gestures - a bit sappy, but they work. The film gives a nice tour of Sydney too, even if it doesn't fit the norm of the films in the main series. Despite my misgivings about some aspects of it, the film is mostly an engagingly good idea which makes the text more accessible and relevant - which is after all the core idea of the series.