Amelia and Michael

Amelia And Michael tells a story of a married couple who might have been hurting each other in the past with infidelities, but have decided to stay married and lead separate lives. It's all a part of a great accommodation they've reached.

They look to have all the material needs you could possibly ask for in 21st Century London. Yet Natasha Powell seems to be wrapped up in the care of a comatose man and Anthony Head best known to American viewers from Buffy The Vampire Slayer series likes to have his nooners with working girls. As it is very British it's all quite civilized.

It was nicely portrayed, but this is certainly not the kind of film to create any excitement with the viewer. The director's a talented fellow, he should have spiced this one up a bit.

How much do you know about those you should know most about? How much should you know? Do you need to know everything? Amelia and Michael should know everything about each other as they are a prosperous, successful, professional married couple. Yet each keeps a secret from each other in Daniel Cormack's debut film.

Amelia has a devotion to a critically injured young man and she visits him whilst he is lying in a hospital bed. He is hooked up to a life support machine and is still and silent. Who he is we never find out, a lover or male relative perhaps? Michael's secret is more straightforward he lies about a business trip and uses a call girl. He suffers from guilt, she from grief. In the end they confess to each other and have no more secrets. Except that he was called by a colleague when in the hotel room he uses and she casts an eye over a young man who passes by on a motorbike. Does this mean that they are serial offenders? As the viewer we think we know all about them but at the end we can't be sure.

Cormack manages to put this story across in a short space in an economic style which nevertheless packs in lots of information and detail. The viewer is never left to watch too long on one aspect of the film but it never feels like being rushed, the pace is superb.

In his first film Cormack has managed to tell a story well and use his star actor (Anthony Head) well. The technical standard is very high and at no time does it feel like a low budget film. He is obviously a talent to watch out for in future.

The married couple Amelia and Michael enjoy an expensive, comfortable, upper-class life-style. They have a new car with their own driver and a large house. On the surface, everything is fine between them. However, she secretly goes to the hospital to spend time with someone in a coma, who may be her lover. And her husband ditches a trip to Milan to spend the night with an escort. This is about the things hidden, particularly between people who appear to have happy relationships with each other. It is also an exercise in suggestion; notice how little is actually directly shown, much less told. Not only does it utilize film being a mainly visual medium, it respects our intelligence and deductive skills. This is 10 minutes long not counting the credits, and 11 with them. It's immensely professionally done, with strong production values as far as the the camera-work, the editing and the sound goes. Very smooth. The pace is great. It keeps your attention well throughout. This is currently available for free, legal viewing online. There is implied sexuality and mature themes in this. I recommend this to fans of expertly done shorts and well-written character drama. 8/10

This is not a film I would normally watch, however, a person asked me to watch it and post a review and seeing as how I have not reviewed a short film in a while I thought I would take them up on their offer. Like I said, this is not a film I would of searched out and watched on my own, I am not really into dramas all that much, but I found this one to be rather interesting. It was also very well done, it is the type of short film that is basically a short movie as it looks like it has a budget, it has a rather good soundtrack and it looks more like a mini movie rather than some of the more amateurish short films and full length movies I have seen over the years. The film is about a husband and wife who do not seem very close, nor do they seem like they despise each other. They both lead their lives with secrets. You see the secrets and how they play out. Very somber indeed and much different than the way a similar scenario would happen in America (this film is somewhere in England). I was impressed by how the film played out, just not really a genre I enjoy all that much otherwise I most likely would have scored it higher. Films like this end up making me depressed and I try to avoid films like this for the most part, but it was well done.

Short films can be tricky. On one hand, shorts are the perfect format for a director to show off a certain set of skills as a way of getting noticed. On the other hand, it's very easy for shorts to seem pretentious and too artsy for their own good with a director trying too hard to impress. Amelia and Michael avoids such problems by having a simple style, one that compliments the quiet and soft-spoken characters. Director Daniel Cormack does a nice job of keeping a steady pace and never allowing the film or its title characters (expertly played by Anthony Head and Natasha Powell) to go into over-the-top territory. The decision to keep the music as minimal as possible in order to have the focus to stay on the emotions is the best part of the film. Without the typical sappy music playing in the background, Cormack allows the story to seem more honest and realistic than what one might expect from a such a dramatic piece. Perhaps there could have been an ending with a bit more of a kick behind it, but for all of its short length, Amelia and Michael is a captivating watch. 9/10