Black Smoke Rising

After the life of his brother Rafe is cut tragically short, boozy blues singer Jonah discovers that Rafe's will has put him in charge of scattering the ashes according to his brother's wishes. The problem: those wishes can only be discovered by following a series of clues, forcing Jonah to hit the road for a scavenger hunt in which he discovers that Rafe's spirit has come along for the ride.

This B+W film is shot evocatively, visual contrasts adding to the dark subject. Jonah (played wonderfully by James Fisher) dominates the script and the film depicts him as a fully-believable and deeply bereaved character who's brother has recently died. Both brothers were in the same blues band and the fine music adds lightness and mood. Other performances are strongly characterised and it is good to see Jill Greeenacre on the screen again, this time as a clairvoyant assisting Jonah on his UK mystery-tour to find his own worth. A good deal of work has gone into the story-boarding and cutting room to develop a finely-crafted film with echoes of Hitchcock. If you are recently bereaved or depressed, then the film would be about as helpful as Leonard Cohen on a stormy night, but if you love mood, emotion and the sparks of life that visit from dark places, then this film satisfies.