On the Rocks

In the short documentary ‘On the Rocks‘, director Amen Jafri follows her husband’s personal story as an alcoholic.

The title is the first to fall into the viewers’ attention, knowing this is about a dependence very hard to fight with, ‘On the Rocks’ has two ends: at the left end it equates with the easiness to surrender ‘on the rocks’ – a phrase usually used when ordering drinks with ice, and giving into the ‘feeling’; at the right end the formula is rather making you think about walking barefoot on rocks (which is actually very painful) and which sends to the difficulty of fighting such a dependence as that of alcohol. The couple talks about each other during the period of dependency and also about their own thoughts on the situation.

There is actually a very intense scene where the husband is speaking about the places he would hide his dependency, and by that we refer at the alcohol bottles. This is particularly rough if you think at the pathos of the addicts and the hardness of a normal person to accept and admit one’s shortcomings and weaknesses. This makes a person feel vulnerable and fear he or she would also be then, kept away from their ‘enjoyment’ or judged for it. This scene makes you understand how much the husband wanted to get rid of his weakness and how bad it made him feel.

By following the two character’s thoughts on the situation in their family and their thoughts on each other, it makes you feel how important are one for another in healing the issue.

A short and simple documentary that, before anything else, makes you remember how important love and caring is and the huge things they can help achieve.

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