Charlotte's Song

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.

This is a very unusual movie, a very dark adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson story "The Little Mermaid", made into a very dark movie with horror elements. It takes place in 1930's America, with the leading character Charlotte, that has some hidden powers. Her Father runs a theater that has a song and dance show, until an evil man comes forth and rescues the business but turns it more into a strip joint and house of pleasure using his daughters. Yes, a very dark movie indeed, but the production and acting is superior and I enjoyed this strange story very much.Yes, Mermaids can be a very strong creature when needed to be, and this movie explores that element. Check it out, I liked it a lot. 4/5

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.

Her story begins where the fairy tale ends.

I suppose this movie was inspired by the well-known fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" by Christian-Andersen. Now, if you were an attentive reader, you'd noticed that this little sea-dweller was explicitly present throughout the whole story. If this film is a kind of homage to this fairytale, then it really falls short on that part. It's more like the movie "Godzilla". This legendary monster also appeared only a few minutes in the film. The same for the singing mermaid in "Mermaid's song" (First titled "Charlotte's song"). You can admire her for 5 minutes. That's rather scanty for a film that lasts 88 minutes. But in that short period, you can see that the transformation of Charlotte (Katelyn Mager) to the dreaded mermaid is shown in a successful way.

This film obviously isn't a fairytale suitable for little children. However, it's not such a frightening film as the film poster suggests. And categorizing it under the genre "horror" is also a bit exaggerated. You could call it a drama with some fantasy elements. The drama part deals with the demise of a flourishing cabaret theater somewhere in no man's land in the United States. The deterioration of this establishment is caused by the death of Serena (Natasha Quirke, mother of Charlotte and also blessed with the mermaids gene) and the economic depression. And before he realizes it, George (Brendan Taylor), father of Charlotte and a spineless wimp, is having a financial hangover and is heading for a forced closure.

Whether the bankruptcy of this bar is caused by the prevailing economic crisis only, I doubt anyway. The stage show isn't exactly a crowd puller either. Maybe it was exciting enough for that period. In those days naked flesh of a female foot was enough to drive an average man crazy. I was surprised to see (during a stage performance) that the phenomenon of twerking was already invented in the 1930s. The fact that a lot of people showed up in the past, was mainly because of the enchanting singing of Serena. She was a mermaid who has exchanged her tail for a pair of slender legs and completely renounced to live on as such a sea miracle, so she can spend the rest of her life with the man who has completely and absolutely won her heart.

But to be honest, the whole thing about mermaids is subordinate to the rest. "Mermaid's song" is rather a social drama about poverty and the local mafia trying to exploit misfortunes. That's when Iwan Rheon appears on the scene. He plays Randall. A kind of Mafia type who has a lucrative proposal for George so the bar could be saved. The fact that George needs his daughters to act as ordinary prostitutes and his business is more like a brothel from then on, is the other side of the coin. And in this horrifying situation, Charlotte needs to grow up. An innocent looking girl who discovers that she has a special gift.

It's strikingly clear that "Mermaid's song" is a low-budget film (and the lion's share of that budget went undoubtedly to Iwan Rheon). The sound is simply terribly bad. The balance between music, sounds, and speech was so bad that you couldn't understand what people were saying sometimes. It was completely drowned out by the sound effects and music. Sorry to say, but that's something typical for a low-budget film. Also, the acting wasn't always enjoyable. It was rather clumsy and inexperienced. In retrospect, Katelyn Mager wasn't so bad after all. But I was really pleased with the overall presentation of the film. The decor, the props, and clothing looked authentic. And the scarce moments with the mermaid showing up, weren't so bad either.

So, all in all, it is nothing more than an average film. No, it's not the kind of film that makes you very enthusiastic. And no, it isn't so bad that it should be ignored at all time. If you ever come across it on one or another television channel, you should give it a chance. "Mermaid's song" is definitely worth a look. The film itself dates from 2015, but only surfaced again last year via "Video On Demand" services. Weird. Does it seem as if they are trying to benefit from the success of "The shape of water"?