Surveillance

I managed to catch this movie at a film festival that was held in New Zealand while I was traveling through.

This is a well acted independent production. The acting was crisp and the plot was thrilling and suspenseful. Without trying to give too much away I could see some similarity between a certain member of the current royal family and the rumours that have been swirling around that prince. One can only wonder if that was the source of inspiration of the screenplay.

The story is played out well and the ending is one that is so non- Hollywood! I have been guarded in what has been said so as not to give too much away.

I give it a 7 out of 10.

My opinion is much like that of others commenting here. The film has a great plot line that just goes horribly wrong with lackluster acting and the odd use of multiple media to replicate CCTV cameras.

The story weaved back-and-forth from subplot to subplot without achieving any real traction. What was the crux of the movie: the gay affair involving a royal, Adam and his relationships with former "ex", friend, father, etc., or the overuse and dangers of too many surveillance cameras? By trying to tie all these elements together cohesively, the viewer probably will come away feeling cheated in that no subplot or element is fully fleshed out. Any one plot line could have been compelling -- all of them threaded together just didn't work in this case. 3 out of 10 stars.

I have been lucky enough to view this movie via a legal promotion copy which was sent to my local cinema manager. He felt that it might be interesting to show the movie as part of our film club presentation, alongside a q&a session with the director, Paul Oremland. As a member of the selection committee he allowed me to view the film and report back my views on it.

Well, here goes! Whilst the movie is not exactly bad I could not help but feel that the style and look of the film appeared to outweigh the narrative. The hand-held cameras, images ripped from the surveillance cameras etc did, at many moments throughout the film, distract from the story-telling. In fact at points the style became so distracting that the actual story got lost in the mix. I also could not help but feel that the use of such techniques has been done so much better in the past, especially in 'Red Road'.

As for the story itself, and without wanting to give anything away, the conspiracy (or not!) related within all added up to case, in my opinion, of "yeah, OK, so what!" Although having said that I am sure that if the film gets a wider enough release whilst a certain enquiry is in full flow then it will pick up a certain following from those who like to believe in the type of issues that the film deals with! I do wish Mr Oremland well with the film, I'm sure he will find an audience out there, but for me it was far too much a case of style over substance.

Never in my film going career have I walked out on a film, but this is the first. The director made certain visual choices that did not make any sense. Choosing to use the Closed Circuit TV Camera in random places, not evoking a sense of paranoia at all. The acting was sub-par, almost to the point of beginning actors doing a staged reading. I caught this flick last night at the Chicago International. Film Festival, the Director was in the audience, I was so tempted to tell him how I felt, but I did not wish to stick around any longer. Such a shame, a great idea, but poor follow through. The film felt as if the director did not have a clear point of view on how the paranoia should be viewed.

Avoid at all costs!

All Costs I say!

Surveillance was a bad attempt at a good idea. The ever increasing lack of privacy and "surveillance" by government agencies is a good topic for a film, just not this one! I felt there was no thrilling moments in this film, cerebral or otherwise. The plot was transparent and predictable. Not to mention superbly large plot holes and incredulous moments.

I didn't buy into it.

The exchanges between characters were shallow and poorly acted. I felt no trepidation for the characters, in fact I felt nothing for the characters. The cinematography was alright. I found nothing extraordinary about using CCTV cameras. The editing was sloppy and seemed haphazardly executed.

There were many potentially incredible ideas in this film, however they were poorly combined and fell short of the film's goal.