Vera Is Taken Out for the Day

I'm not a particular fan of the few "mumblecore" films I have seen and, being honest, I doubt I could tell you too much about what the genre tickboxes would be, but this short film is supposedly a tribute to the genre. Whether it is or isn't I have no clue, but I am not quite sure what to make of it. The film is essentially two people sitting in the park together talking while they wait for the man's friend Vera to arrive so they can head off on a day out. While they wait the man and woman talk and have fun, developing a chemistry that is not really what they want. Meanwhile, Vera runs and misjudges the weather.

It must be noted that this film appears to have been made very quickly as part of an actual day out, so the grainy footage and variable sound quality are understandable even if they are still a bit of a detracting factor on the film. The structure and ideas are fine and it did seem like we had a story developing between the words spoken by the man and woman – they seem to have fun together but while she maybe wants more than that, he doesn't seem too comfortable. This is not particularly well delivered as a "story" since it is based on the final scene of dialogue between the two as Vera arrives. I would have liked the film to have had more of substance between these two characters – maybe not obvious or direct, but something to work with and provide something to mull over. As it is I didn't think it did that although it hinted at it.

The split between them and their friend Vera running is nicely done although I'm not sure who she fitted into the dynamic of the film; she seems an outsider in the trio but nothing is really said on that. The soundtrack is unofficial and pretty good – 3 tracks with good mix and appeal. The sound quality between the music and the actual recording is a bit jarring but softened as much as possible as they cut between scenes. It does have a fun sense of a film being made just because, but I would really have liked it to have done more with the time – suggest more in the characters to complement the cooler aspects of the music and the cuts between talking and running. It looks like they enjoyed making it, but for me as a viewer it didn't do much beyond being a curio.