There are certain films that do not necessarily amaze with a complex storyline, but with their “sensory” quality, composing a delightful atmosphere the viewer feels long after the end of the project. The same thing happens with the short film ‘A SHORE‘ which astounds from the first frame, on the one hand, by the professionalism with which the directors Sam Gilberg & Armand Dov Brescia manipulate all the technical dimensions of a complex movie, and on the other hand by the aesthetic balance of the image leading to a dive into the memory of a character defeated by social conventions. Therefore, time tends to become the main character in this introspective cinematic exercise which, although it doesn’t support a broader exploration of the narrative thread, becomes a consistent presence that impresses the viewer with a fascinating contemplative attitude. As a consequence, this project doesn’t engage the spectator in a participatory formula that necessarily aims to create empathic connections with the characters, but it provides an opportunity for self-reflection, self-discovery, in a manner similar to the protagonist’s process of remembering.
Even though his life seems to work the way he wants, Charlie returns again and again to the same memory that brings him back to Matt, his friend, a few decades ago. But can this constant “search of lost time” save a man who knows he has betrayed himself by choosing a path he did not really want?
Without defining a concrete narrative evolution, the quality of this project with Proustian valences consists precisely in depicting the process by which the protagonist’s affective memory embodies a kind of reality simulacrum, in order to escape the constraints of a rigid present. The harmonious combination of natural frames with details that capture the emotional compatibility between the characters in a complex and synesthetic landscape is one of the central mechanisms of this project in which directors Sam Gilberg & Armand Dov Brescia prove their talent. Likewise, the chromatic balance that supports the sometimes-diffuse dynamism of this dive into the “viscous” matter of an obsessive memory builds through sound effects a warm and recognizable experience, encircling the viewer’s senses like a living and compact body. Without any doubt, ‘A SHORE’ is the perfect result of matching a promising directorial vision with a special sensitivity.
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