There is something greatly admirable about pursuing film-making as a true "do it yourself" affair. There are no substantial financial resources involved, and the cast consists mostly of non-professionals whose primary additional credits are filmmaker Mason Stoddard's other features. Editing, employed to jarring or disorientating effect at times, is quite good but a trifle inelegant, again betraying an apparent lack of additional experience. So it is, too, with the music. Make no mistake, 'Chasing shadows' is about as independent as a film can get. Yet Stoddard had previously demonstrated his capabilities with the similarly low-budget, excellent 2011 thriller 'No precedence' - and so long as you can overlook the superficial indelicacies, there is also a strong film to be found here.
Filmed primarily in gorgeous outdoor locations, the wide open spaces offer grounding for a film concept that is expansive - and especially given the small-time nature of the production, daring and ambitious. There is definite narrative, but even the plot really just provides a rudimentary framework around which to build the real meat of the picture. 'Chasing shadows' is most aptly named, as it is more than anything else about introspection, and reflection - characters ruminating on their pasts, their friendships and relationships, and their futures, with their flashback selves also echoing that meditation. This focus is brought out by the characters' trek, and its purpose, as well as by the deep uncertainty they carry with them in their active journey. The enjoyable, varied score composed by Stoddard himself, with collaborators, adds a touch of uneasy atmosphere over top, amplifying the pensive mood.
Despite the rough edges, Stoddard's screenplay is solid - the character writing is outstanding, and the dialogue is unexpectedly intense and absorbing. The scene writing is likewise surprisingly dynamic, and keeps us thoroughly invested, while the narrative remains steady - never the true core, but a tentpole around which the rest is structured. In the meantime, the film is overflowing with thematic content - not least of all loss of faith, in all regards (in religion, in relationships, in oneself), but also that faithlessness contrasted with self-actualization, and renewal. And though marked by the same slight gawkiness denoting 'Chasing shadows' as such an indie feature, Stoddard's camerawork is also nothing to sneeze at. He captures wonderful detail not just in establishing shots, but even while capturing the ongoing story, and not one image before us feels out of place.
Star Melanie Stone is the lone professional actor of the cast, with a noteworthy list of credits, and she inhabits the role of Julia with all the great range, nuance, and strength of personality we've come to expect from her. I've seen many of her movies at this point, enjoying each one, and she certainly doesn't disappoint here. Yet this is hardly to count out her costars: though generally lacking experience, no one truly betrays their greenness, instead portraying the other characters with a very natural ease that I think is a merit for both their capabilities and Stoddard's adept writing, that he can so readily fold such film-making neophytes into the whole. With the script placing perhaps less emphasis on real dialogue between characters than on individuals' inner thoughts, the movie relies a fair amount on voiceovers. I mean no disrespect to anyone when I say that it shows that none of them are voice actors - this element isn't bad, not by any means, but VO work requires a power and dexterity in one's inflections, to effectively communicate emotion, that isn't necessarily fully reflected in this instance. It's notable - but certainly not so much as to detract from our entertainment.
When all is said and done, what we get is a very low-budget, very indie, nearly homemade movie from a practitioner who has knowledge and ability well exceeding his means. And though unquestionably lacking refinement, 'Chasing shadows' defies its limits, and the assumptions it engenders in us, to be an engaging, satisfying, and even rewarding watch. The screenplay is astonishingly sound and replete with appreciable substance, and in all ways its realization far surpasses any presuppositions we may enter with. So long as you are able to abide the somewhat modest nature of the picture, this is well worth checking out if you have the opportunity.
