Charlotte's Song

Low budget doesn't have to equate to a film being garbage, but alas, Mermaid's Song is complete garbage. Awful cinematography, acting, writing, and audio mixing. The version I watched you could barely hear what any of the characters was saying because the background music, which is constantly going, is blaring. You may be a masochist if you can finish this tripe.

A pinch of Del Torro, and a spot of David Lynch, some very competent actors, some nice stylish direction - and the result is inexplicably dull. The fault must lie with the script, which is inconsequential and uninvolving. This - like the occasional sound issues - could be an artistic decision, to elevate the weirdness of the piece, but either way the results are a bit of a chore to watch. In fact - and I don't often use this sentence - the musical numbers are often highpoints.

A lot of effort seems to have gone into this, and budget doesn't appear to be lacking, so I feel I should like it more than I do. Even so, I found it a challenge to stick around until the end. We don't really get to know the characters, or learn what relationship they have with each other, and therefore don't care what happens to most of them.

The plot is hard to fathom, frequently incomprehensible. Again, this could be deliberate, but either way, it alienates the viewer. I couldn't get into this, and didn't know what kind of film it wanted to be. My score is 4 out of 10, which an additional point for the frequently excellent musical score and a finale which goes some way to living up to the promise of the title.

The movie itself was a little draggy but intriguing enough. I liked it for the most part. Where it loses majorly is how they managed, I mean mismanaged the sound. Shouldn't singing voices be heard and not drowned out by the music and sound effects? Hard to make out a lot of what was said because voices were constantly drowned out.

Nicholas Humphries' fairytale is a dark dabble into a troubled life during a harsher period of American life. The 1930'second was the last great decade of some truly depressing and dark times, a stark reality of the decadent and the derilect- no real rights save for the wealthy, and not much compassion beyond a mother's love (and based on the cap I watched based on the times, even that was a 1 in 5 chance - if you were lucky.) Anyway, "Mermaid's Song" encompasses a slice of that existence, wrapped in a coming of age tale, garnished with a flare of dark fantasy.

The settings and period trappings are nice, well conceived elements that help to really frame what becomes an almost Gothic story. The characters are traditional souls similar to the characters in 'Damnation', a series set in a time just before Nicholas Humphries' story. Most are two-dimensional but the main character, Charlotte and the antagonist, played by Rheon really stand out.

The special effects, although mostly CGI, are quality works that achieve the necessary effect that Humphries is going for. The creature design and transition sequences are cool, entertaining moments. The sound effects and music score are mixed bagged notes that, at times, seem out of place, but for the most part blend nicely with the pace of the story and creates a nice slow stride.

"Mermaid's Song" is marketed toward the horror fan, but it is more of a period drama with dark fantasy edges. The horror elements are mild, however there are moments in the film that explores some elements of sex trafficking, exploitation of women, and child molestation. Still those are mostly insinuated, and never pushed beyond respectability. Just keep in mind that this is no kiddie flick.

The story is a mermaid that gives up her life to be a human & in return she must submit her daughter to the waters. She ends up committing suicide in order to save her daughter, but that doesn't work.

Her father runs a brothel & prostitutes his daughters to pay off a debt. After the debt is paid, he continues the brothel.

The daughter falls for a guy, & then there is basically a pointless ending, as there is nothing to go by.