Bait

Black and white is back....'Bait' is a fine piece of visually stunning filmwork.....a bloody work of art. It also includes a cast of many first timers that pulled their weight like big Hollywood stars.

A subtle story with a huge message. As a coastal Floridian USA, I know exactly what this film is talking about, only this film says it much better. I'm not even sure I have the intellect or the vocabulary to offer a satisfactory review or critique of this film.

A simple story with complex characters. Dialog is sparse but adequate and spoken visually with few words. The old time black and white ambiance is the perfect foil to portray the flawed nature of character.

A love story shown from many perspectives. A one time fishing village now in flux and weathering out the new reality. A fisherman unwavering and unwilling to change with the times. I widowed father doing what he needs to survive for his son. The city folk looking for peace and quiet weekend. The Inn keepers building a summer business. Teenagers coming to age and looking for relationships and purpose. The bar, and owner at the center of town serving her patrons and trying to stay afloat. They all revolve each other as each character reaches for what they believe is most important. Tragedy strikes and we see what's truly the most important.

This is a must see film and direction, location, content, casting, script, audio, visual, media, production, editing, etc, etc....were all well defined and executed. I rated a 9, excellent, although this type of film might not be everyone's cup of tea.

Bait is a pretty remarkable film. Saw it at the excellent BFI Southbank. It's set in the present day but filmed using techniques from the old silent film era - with sound - including audio - added afterwards. No moving camera. Shot as if the person being spoken to is holding said camera (think Peep Show). Beautiful black and white. It's an extension of the dogme filmmaking mantra. The director is basically sticking two fingers up at CGI and digital technology. And the result is mesmerising. However, would the drama stand up on its own two feet if it were filmed 'conventionally'? To be honest, I doubt it. But I don't think that matters.

Imagine this. Taylor Swift releases a bunch of new songs on a 78 rpm shellac record, and before selling it she adds some scratches to make it sound really old.

'Bait' is the cinematographic equivalent of this imaginary album. It's a movie set in the present, but made with the equipment and filming technique from a century ago. The result is that we see a modern story on grainy celluloid with lot of white flecks, and an image sometimes suddenly becoming darker or lighter. Even the sound is special: everything is dubbed, resulting in a certain stiffness we know from movies made in the 1930's.

It's a gimmick, and it's brilliantly done. 'Bait' is different from all other films you will see this year. And that in itself is a great quality. But is is the only one. The film is worthwile because of the gimmick. Take it away, and imagine the same story, filmed on an ordinary digital camera with great colours and good, natural sound, and it would be nothing special.

That's why the film didn't really appeal to me. It's not that I didn't appreciate the effort to make something out of the ordinary. I did, but halfway I wanted more than juist the gimmick. Also I had sometimes trouble following the logic of the story, and in my opinion the quick cross cutting scenes were a bit too much. If the 1930's style of the film would have served a purpose, for example in flash-backs or found footage, it would have been different. But now I was left with mixed feelings. I admire the audacity of the experiment, but I wasn't carried away by the overall cinematic experience.

I don't review many films on IMDB but was moved enough by BAIT to write something. The visuals are always interesting, shot in black and white it reminded me of some of the British WW2 propaganda films, especially with some of the performances that are by their nature very realistic and not showy. The performance of Edward Rowe is mesmerising as a tortured man, his livelihood threatened, his culture undermined, his sheer frustration with what life has dealt him. I really didn't know what to expect from his character with each twist and turn. I also really appreciated the non-romantic view of Cornwall, it wasn't idolised and showed the impact of the decline of traditional industry with the growth in tourism. I hope a lot of viewers won't be put off by it being in black and white as it deserves to be seen widely

I love the texture in this, every shot is beautifully framed. A recent film, using old techniques (shot on 18mm).

Shot and edited by Mark Jenkin. All of the sound is done in Post-production. So much effort behind this, and it looks amazing.