Education for Leisure

When it comes to short films there is always the temptation to be kind to them, as if existing is perhaps all they need to do because they represent the opposite of soulless blockbusters and therefore must be good. When the film is made by someone very young with ambition, self-determination and drive then it is even harder not to say nice encouraging things. This film is one such example and indeed you can find plenty of awards and internet comments about it – few of them come out and say that actually, you know what, the film isn't actually that good.

Unfortunately I'm going to be that guy – the guy that looks at young talent and then ignores the challenges, ignores the limitations of budget, ignores the drive to get a film "out there" in the first place and actually just watches the film. This short is inspired by a poem that I have not read, so I cannot say if the poem is the reason the plot here is as clunkily simplistic as it is, but regardless this is simplistic. The plot plays out with a "troubled" teen being difficult and violent – leading to a murder; we then skip back to the moment when his mother left for work without saying goodbye, but this time she spares a moment for his son and this time the day goes differently and all is well. It is a very basic idea that has a moral message that even Hallmark would reject for being too corny. As a result the film suffers but I would have still liked it had the delivery been better.

Due to limitations though, a lot of it is basic and there is a certain amount of problems caused by someone very inexperienced being behind the scenes here. The cinematography is almost as obvious as the plot; there were a couple of very good shots but mostly it has the look and camera devices that one would expect in a student film but nowhere else. Ever seen a PowerPoint presentation from someone who just discovered PowerPoint last week? All the effects and transitions in use, all the sound effects etc? Well that is how this film feels – but fair enough, maybe it is a process. The music is poor too – again, not technically (whoever is playing it can play the instrument) but just not used well and really quite obvious. Similarly the sound quality is so-so at best.

Overall Education for Leisure is a poor film – ignore the context and it is just poor. Kudos to Dan Allen for getting it made, for trying to do something at such a young age – I will watch more of his short films out of interest, but the young hate being patronised or talked to like they are children, so I won't do that with Dan or his film here.