The Seven Sides of Shakespeare

ANATOLIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

by Tom Miller

REVIEW

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

William Shakespeare

Movies that refer to great works always go deeper. The Seven Sides of Shakespeare (TSSS) is an experimental and biographical production with lots of references to Shakespeare. What is the experimental film? These films by definition are unconventional, and therefore almost never reach a wide audience. They have a nature of their own. An experimental film is often characterized by the absence of linear narrative, the use of various abstracting techniques—out-of-focus, painting or scratching on film, rapid editing—the use of asynchronous sound or even the absence of any sound track.

Let's start with the strengths of the movie. While watching the movie, viewers start to think of their own lives. While I was watching the scenes, I constantly went to my memories of the past. Long scenes that actually seem like a disadvantage turn into a serious advantage in this sense. The audience can also go on a journey in their inner world. We watch all periods of human life such as birth, growth and old age in chronological order with various analogies. Of course, for this, they should not get bored with the film and get caught up in the flow. I liked the protagonist very much. He played naturally and sincerely. Obviously, the most powerful part of the movie is the acting department. Act VII is great and dramatic; I can easily say that is my favorite act.

However, we have to mention some negativities. The transition between acts is very problematic. Such long black screen wait times are not the right choice for an experimental film. The narration is long and tiring anyway, so no one wants to wait for 20 seconds looking at the black screen. In addition, in experimental films, editing is expected to be faster and more fluid, especially if this film is a feature film. Unfortunately, there is an inertia in the whole movie. There is noise in the image during night shots. There is a lighting problem throughout the movie. It seems the lighting department did not do its job well. Too much space is devoted to external videos. It could have been kept shorter. We should compose images that will deliver the message the moment requires in an effective and easy to understand way. Whether the intensity of the scene needs to be low or high, to reveal more or less, to point out one element or another, there are a number of compositional rules and elements that are available to us in order to achieve such effects as we will see from this point on. Within this frame, the structure of the film is having difficulty providing the expected smooth flow.

Director Tom Miller has done a good project. It will be an essential step for his next movie. If you want to put aside film's technical deficiencies, make an inner journey and have about two hours, it is a good idea to try it.

AIFF