Desmond Coy
One of the most rewarding parts of running a site such as this is the number of short films that come my way. There are some incredibly talented people out there turning out superbly focussed pieces of twisted brilliance that really do deserve to be seen by a much wider audience. Desmond Coy is just such a film.
In the opening scene we meet our protagonist, played by Kerr Hewitt. He’s bruised, battered and bloody and pleading for mercy. And, just for good measure, whoever has kidnapped him had decided to hold him in a bathful of water. The film then goes on to reveal how he came to be in this position.
Writer, Jeff Spriet has managed to pack a surprisingly large amount of plot into the film’s short running time, and the story is very efficiently told. There is no padding here and everything that happens has a narrative value. Because of the way that the film is structured, this is not always immediately apparent but, by the end of the film, everything has been neatly slotted into place to ensure that the conclusion of the film is suitably satisfying.
Kerr Hewitt’s performance also deserves a mention. His character goes through a lot over the course of the film and Hewitt does a great job here of taking us from a mild dislike of his smug yuppie to genuine sympathy for the brutalised victim he becomes.
Visually, Desmond Coy is very effective indeed. There are basically three sets and, in each case, the design and the lighting perfectly captures the mood of the events – from the height of overconfidence to very low indeed. And when things do go wrong for our hero, the stylishly grimy violence of the film becomes almost painful to watch.
Desmond Coy is an exceptionally stylish film that tells a very solid story, and tells it well. The film is about to start its festival run and is well worth seeking out.
Thursday 17 Jan 2008 | Paul Pritchard | Crime
