Waverley

I couldn't believe the high score and the glowing review of this short film. I actually watched it twice since I fell asleep the first time. Twenty-seven minutes for almost NOTHING to happen. We see her brush her hair. We see her swivel her tea cup on its saucer. We see her put on her gloves. We see her put on her kerchief. We see her emit a large amount of smoke before driving off. We see the empty driveway after she's left. We see her refuse to enter a shop. Then we see her eating alone in a cafe. We see her playing bridge with friends who enjoy drinking more than they do playing cards.

Along the way, an accident occurs. Her reaction to this is somewhat unusual. Later, it becomes VERY unusual.

And then the live animal in the final scene simply makes no rational sense.

Besides all this nothingness, how is that a woman of her advanced age lives all alone in a magnificent house since she obviously has enough money for servants?

All-in-all twenty-seven minutes of confusing pointless boredom.

An ageing woman's world is changed irrevocably by an encounter with a wild animal: A visual masterpiece, Waverley thrives on repeated viewing. In its quiet and meticulous composition, it makes both wonderful and unusual use of the short film form. The cinema of Tarkovsky comes to mind, yet the film stands well on its own. Its simple and elegiac narrative handles the theme of loneliness with a great sense of ambiguity. Piers Thompson (director and writer) creates a dense structure of metaphorical references without becoming overly symbolic. This structure carefully encompasses the old woman herself, her large and strangely derelict country home, the nature of her limited and unfulfilled encounters with the outside world as well as her distinctive readiness to interact with both nature and the things she surrounds herself with. The film also gives the viewer a sense of an ageing person's perception of time and change by skilfully juxtaposing it against the "real time" of an outside world that seems to remain hermetically removed from the character's experience. Angela Pleasence is superb in the title role.