Review of This Is Not a Love Song

Introduction

It takes 8 weeks to shoot an average film, and in 2001 Simon Beaufoy and Billie Eltringham set out to re-write the rule book. Beaufoy is better known writing 1997`s The Full Monty and has worked with Eltringham on other projects for over ten years. Their plan, dependent on Film council backing, was to write a script in two weeks, then film the story over 12 days. Despite minor hiccups, like the national outbreak of Foot and Mouth, they managed it and This Is Not A Love Story is the result. Not only did they re-write the rule book on shoot scheduling, this film was also the first in the world to be released simultaneously in the cinema and online, with over one hundred thousand hits on that first weekend.

Heaton (Kenny Glenaan) and Spike (Michael Colgan) are mates. The two are completely different characters; Heaton is the quiet thoughtful yet slightly menacing type whereas Spike is manic and child-like, suffering for attention deficit disorder. Despite this, the two remain virtually inseparable. Spike has just been released from prison after a four month stint inside and Heaton steals a 4x4 to meet him upon his release. Taking a ride out into the countryside, the wagon runs out of fuel and events take a turn for the worse.

Searching for fuel on a nearby farm, Heaton is pushed into a shed by a shotgun-toting farmer who believes Heaton is `on the rob`. A nearby Spike, ignoring instructions from Heaton, has been wandering and by luck manages to get his hands on the shotgun. With an imprisoned Heaton trying to escape and the farmer yelling insults at him, Spike gets more than a little confused. The sudden appearance of a 15 year old girl startles him and the shotgun goes off and a day out suddenly turns into murder.

The two run off into the hills to get away from the scene of devastation, expecting the Police to come searching for them. A bunch of local farmers have other ideas though and send the Police on a wild goose chase whilst organising their own search for the duo. Despite the crime committed by Spike, Heaton stays with his foolish companion in an act of either loyalty or stupidity or maybe both. As the two try to head for the safety of the nearest city, the vigilantes look to cut them off and bring their own brand of justice to the unsuspecting friends.

Video

Filmed using Digital Video technology in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Some interesting techniques that can get a little repetitious through slight over-use, including zooming and blurred slow motion shots. Interesting use of colour reversal during Spike`s aerosol incident, although this actually detracts from the story. Director Billie Eltringham was nominated for four Festival awards in 2002 for her work on this film.

Audio

The P.I.L song that the film takes its title from is used in abundance during this film, either the song proper or a stringed section from it. Very little other music is used. Dialogue is clear over a 2.0 Stereo soundtrack, although those not used to watching Taggart may struggle with some of the accents.

Features

Trailer - doesn`t give too much away.

Making Of - 26 minute featurette that takes you behind every facet of the film-making process, including the submissions process with the Film Council. One of the more interesting Making Of`s I`ve seen.

Conclusion

This film is essentially a tale of friendship disintegrating after a traumatic event. The chase is superfluous in some respects as the relationship between Heaton and Spike is placed under the microscope. The fact that these two ended up as friends is odd enough when you look at their respective characters, but odder still is the lack of common sense by Heaton as he sticks by his frankly lunatic friend. Heaton has some kind of dependency on Spike, a role reversal on our expectations of this kind of relationship, and it is the perceived weaker character who ends up making the stronger decision to walk away.

Although neither character started off as appealing, Heaton was the one who carried my sympathy through this film. In part a testament to a towering performance by Glenaan, Heaton acts like a protective big brother to Spike, trying to cajole the younger man into action when all he wants to do is either stop or eat. Michael Colgan`s Spike is a completely unlikeable character, at least in my view, and I`m not sure this was completely deliberate. Spike doesn`t think before he acts, in fact he doesn`t seem to think at all. With no apparent common sense in his possession, we don`t really see him accepting that he has done anything wrong other than his seeing the ghost of his victim now and again. With no redeeming features to this character at all, I was hoping throughout the film Heaton would just wrap a log around his head and leave him to the farmers. This makes the ending slightly surprising in that Spike makes a conscious decision, breaks the friendship and seems to accept the consequences of this without protest.

I wasn`t expecting to like this film that much, especially when comparisons are made to the likes of Straw Dogs and Deliverance on the artwork. To me, a film needs to stand on its own with the viewer mentally making those kind of comparisons. I was expecting a pale imitation of both, but instead got a film that was extremely enjoyable once the chase was on. The boat shots that bookend the film were quite clever and the ending was more than satisfactory for me. A good view in my book, give it a try.