Electricity

'Electricity' has a touch of class in film making: An urban drama about a tough, young woman from the North of England, who has epilepsy. When her estranged mother dies, she will take risks to challenge her illness to travel to London to find her long lost brother who was taken into care at an early age.

The film is shot with imagination through the fuzzy sight and mind of 'Lily' in her medical condition. It is an independent, British film of classy drama -without the 'shouting aloud' of the nitty-gritty theatre- it skilfully boarders upon the very dangers encountered in raw, urban life with our heroine as a vulnerable person in risky territory.

I appreciate this film because it celebrates bravery of the heart. It is a personal and beautiful film with a slight touch of narrative documentary of self reflection. It shows courage in determination to live with life threatening illness: Rather than to convey present sadness, the film delivers personal courage, and has a flair for energy and compassion. Although boundaries are broken in a dysfunctional family, the film celebrates life! Starring Agyness Deyn as Lily - the film is based on the book by Ray Robinson, and was directed by Bryn Higgins.

Wow, if ever I could have the perfect two movies to identify with, one after the other, it was the last movie I saw, Infinitely Polar Bear, and a British drama by the name of Electricity. An apt title for a film if there ever was one. The tone of the two films couldn't be more different though. One is a tale of redemption, a man trying to win his family back while struggling with bi-polar disorder in a time where it wasn't understood like it is today. This however is a much more bleak, depressing film that reminded me of Trainspotting more than once as a girl with epilepsy is forced to live under the constant dread that she will have a seizure. She is trying to find her brother, who she hasn't seen since he was taken to juvie when she was 17.

The best thing about this film is that the epilepsy isn't all this movie is focusing on. It is actually used as an inventive way to create tension..... Sometimes an oncoming seizure is predictable, but this seems intended at times, as the threat of another seizure constantly looms over the Lily's journey and effectively puts you in the position she is. Dread looms constantly over her journey. When she does have a seizure, the sound numbs, the visuals distort, and on occasion she will narrate what she is thinking, which is completely opposed to her behaviour, which she now does not have control over. Seizures are more than a convulsion, they can often trigger a severe personality shake-up and sudden, out-of-character behaviour.

I got chills many times during this movie, it's up there with Requiem for a Dream in how much it got to me in terms of its realism and the way it brought about a sense of familiarity of bad experiences and memories of my own. When she argues with doctors, I am hearing myself, I am hearing so many medications that I am on or have been on at some point in my life. I am hearing the same frustration in her voice. It is realistic and gritty, making for an intense watch for me, and looking from the outside, I imagine this very effectively puts the viewer in that position of what it feels like to live under that constant dread and fear of seizures.

Another part of epilepsy that the film portrays, perhaps too bluntly, but unfortunately again realistic, are the reactions of many when they see a person have a seizure. Lily herself uses words like 'spaz' more than once to describe herself - she is used to it. When a person is nice to her, and doesn't mind about the seizures, it moves Lily so much that she is almost speechless. I have lost count of the amount of people who just couldn't put up with my bullshit anymore, so I could again certainly relate to this scene and felt what Lily felt, the amazing sense of gratitude simply because someone is nice, and more importantly doesn't care about the epilepsy. Again shown in the film, epilepsy is always something that I try to hide when meeting new people, but it never seems to let any relationship work. Hence the overwhelming sense of gratitude, just for a friendship.

The FX department may have gone a little overboard with the hallucinations, but, when they warp the vision and distort the visuals and audio in strange ways it is extremely effective, again very real, and for me, quite chilling. I was stunned at the accuracy up to a point. They just took it a little far, but this doesn't really affect the movie negatively too much.

At its core this is a movie about epilepsy, of course, but the narrative of a sister trying to find a lost brother is touching. The way this story pans out though can be hard to stomach, it isn't an easy journey for Lily as this journey of course has the constant threat of a seizure. This again reminds me of Trainspotting in is raw depiction of fractured people, for whom every day is a mental struggle. Some relief from the depression comes in the form of Lily's brother, a charismatic card player of some kind, a man who has dollar signs for eyeballs. His character arc, as well as Lily's, is interesting and very well written.

Apparently the lead actress, is a model-turned-actor, Agyness Deyn. Could have fooled me! I had never heard of her but was thoroughly convinced by her depiction of a type of epilepsy that I deal with every day. The narration, the way she is too trusting, the fact that she can't believe that someone will put up with it all... These aspects couldn't have been more accurate. The frustration in her voice and narration.... I could go on, but for a performance from a model-turned-actor, in an emotionally heavy drama... she was almost flawless. She had a great cast and an extremely well-written script to work with, and she took full advantage of this and nailed it. The supporting actors playing her brothers (Christian Cooke, Paul Anderson) and a friend she meets on her journey to find her brother (Lenora Crichlow) are also great. But Deyn is in almost every scene here and does a fantastic job. The story is moving, as is her performance.

This is emotional drama done right, the story becoming more interesting as we find out more about the lost brother Lily is trying to find. This simple but effective story, combined with the realistic depiction of epilepsy and the avalanche of symptoms and barriers than come along with the ride, make for a heavy and tense emotional drama, perhaps a notch down from movies like Trainspotting and Requiem For A Dream in terms of that gritty realism.

www.epilepticmoondancer.net

Electricity is a low budget film starring Agyness Deyn who plays Lily O'Connor. She works in a cafe somewhere in Merseyside it seems but the film was partly shot in the north east.

Like most young girls she wants to have a good time but despite the medication her epileptic fits can set upon her at any time which leaves her emotionally and physically drained.

When her mother dies, her eldest brother, a gambler wants her to sell the house and split the proceeds. She does not want to sell because there is a younger brother she has not seen for years. When she is told he might be in London she sets off to track him down.

In London she befriends some homeless people who steal her money. At least they told her how to track down her brother and she contacts homeless shelters and people who work with the homeless.

However those epileptic fits are not far away but luckily she befriends someone who came to her aid when she blacked out.

The film is a straightforward drama of a young woman who has had a troubled family upbringing. She had a rough ride with her mother, problems with her brothers and issues with her disability that has led to a life of taking various medication to control it.

The title of the film reflects the visual effects that the director recreates when the epileptic fits occur. The film is not just about epilepsy but the drama about trying to find her long lost younger brother is a little bit mundane and by the numbers.

Lily is not cut out for the big city and we can guess she is just too trusting when she is exploring the underbelly of homelessness and drug abuse.

There are cameos from Paul Anderson and Tom Georgeson who kind of give this film a country & western feel with a northern beat. I had no idea that Agyness Deyn was some kind of fashion model, then again you are unlikely to look like one if your clothes look like they are from Primark. She really is believable as someone who is not letting her illness define her or get the better of her.

I was drawn to this small, little-known British film by its star, since I have always found that model Agyness Deyn has such a fascinating face. In fact, Deyn - in her first major movie - is not just the central character but in every scene and, given her lack of acting experience, her performance is remarkable. She plays Lily O'Connor, a young woman from the north who travels down to London to seek the younger brother she has not seen since childhood.

The distinguishing feature of this film, directed by Bryn Higgins, is that from a very early age Lily has suffered frequent and severe epileptic fits. I was once travelling on an inter-city train when the young woman sitting next to me had an epileptic fit and I have never forgotten it. This film is part-funded by the Wellcome Foundation and its representation of such fits is very effective and striking.

Agyness Deyn squanders her singular theatrical talent in this film just as she so well did in Sunset Song. Her performance in Electricity comes on really strong in every single image or frame she is on making her taxing role gain and perhaps surpass credibility. I have seen her in these two films so far and I have grown very fond of her interpreting skills. There's something about her acting that I find captivating. It strikes me though as if she had been suitably pigeonholed to enact really harsh roles that can only fill us with heartfelt sympathy, pity and compassion for the characters she portrays so majestically. They don't half know how to endure pain! I cannot wait to see her in her upcoming films interpreting other roles and we might as well test and hopefully taste her potential versatility. Cinematographically speaking I think she has a promising career ahead of her with lot to offer for us to just behold and relish it jaw-droppingly. Just wait and see! In the meantime, keep off watching the mundane hotchpotch of unsubstantial films that abound these days and stick to this delectable one.