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There is an openness and language around mental health in younger people that didn’t exist when I was a teenager. In recalling his presence, Sophie feels her father’s absence, yet only by delving so deeply into the past can she feel the intimacy they shared. Wells illustrates that tension in a series of striking, surreal sequences set at a rave. The adult Sophie imagines picking her way through a crowd toward a dancing Calum, struggling to reach and hold on to him. These scenes are lit by a flickering strobe that breaks up their movements and forces the viewer to join Sophie, to fill in the gaps between images alongside her, in order to develop a full picture. Aftersun understands that closing the inevitable distance between yourself and the ones who raised you is a never-ending pursuit.
What Happened To Calum?
Wells talks about Aftersun, her haunting debut feature about a father taking his young daughter on holiday to Turkey and a semi-autobiographical exploration of childhood, memory and depression. When I ask how it felt to complete that first draft after 3 1/2 years, Wells grins, cracked open by the visceral memory of the moment. “It was the most uncomplicated sense of pride I’ve felt throughout the process. There was something so honest to it and surprising too, which was thrilling; the rave surprised me.” At this, Wells stands abruptly and retreats from the room. The rave she is referring to is a recurring interlude in which adult Sophie approaches Calum — the same age and appearance as we know him on the vacation — on a dance floor.
'Aftersun' follows a father and daughter's last summer vacation together
One of the most gut-punching moments is when Calum casually mentions that he doesn’t think he’ll make it to 40 and is surprised he made it to 30. Calum is never diagnosed in Aftersun but he shows many signs of someone suffering from a form of depression. He tries to hide it from Sophie, but in moments of solitude, you see the pain, self-loathing, fear, and despair that surrounds him. WSN sat down with Wells to talk about her process writing “Aftersun,” her artistic influences, and what advice she has to give to fellow filmmakers from NYU. “Aftersun” has made its own waves playing on the festival circuit around the globe, including the New York Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. Wells, who started out making movies as “an exercise for myself” has been surprised by how much “Aftersun” has resonated with others.
A Review Of Charlotte Wells' Aftersun - The A.V. Club
A Review Of Charlotte Wells' Aftersun.
Posted: Mon, 17 Oct 2022 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Charlotte Wells on Aftersun, The Guardian’s best film of the year: ‘The grief expressed is mine’
She realized what her father must have gone through during that time, and she wished that she could have been there with him and helped him. The dark, rave room represents the darkness that overwhelmed her father. In the end, we watch him walk into that room after leaving Sophie at the airport, indicative of how it eventually consumed him. Even in the darkness, Sophie hoped and imagined that her father was happily dancing to a rhythm. She held onto the memories of her father through the videos they had taken during the trip and the carpet Calum bought in Turkey. After growing up, most of us realize how our parents were figuring out their lives when we were little.
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The tapes prompted reflection about how memory and film intertwine. Wells has sometimes spoken obliquely about the personal roots of Aftersun, describing it as “emotionally autobiographical”. But many details of the film have profound connections with her life.
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He was compelled to become responsible, but he struggled to keep up with it. He had neither a satisfying personal life nor a successful professional life. He was drifting from one job to another, trying new things without knowing if they would ever work or not. At one point in the “Aftersun,” he even mentions how he never thought he would make it to 30 and that he could never imagine being 40. It was only because of Sophie that he returned from the beach to the hotel room that night. She was his reason to not completely give up, to return and carry on with his responsibility.
I listened to a lot of music that led to pop-punk of the early 2000s in my teens; a lot of it is in the film. The rave footage determined the direction and power dynamics of the film. At the end of the film, Sophie gets closer to a white, death mask-like face. It looks like a place of comfort and solace from a distance, but as you get closer, you see the face of desperation. —The beauty of this film is how as an adult, Sophie looks back on the home video footage and comes face to face with her father, who’s no longer there. “I wrote so many openings and so many endings,” Wells sighed.
Aftersun film review — a masterful, nostalgic debut from Charlotte Wells - Financial Times
Aftersun film review — a masterful, nostalgic debut from Charlotte Wells.
Posted: Thu, 17 Nov 2022 08:00:00 GMT [source]
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I needed something to match the rhythm of the dance scene and it irrefutably worked. But because we’d avoided that in the film for the most part, we figured we could get away with it. It felt like a gift to the viewer, like here’s a little bit more of a hint. It gives you closure that you are correct in the direction your mind has been spiraling. Their holiday came to an end, and Sophie remembered how her father had the broadest smile as he danced to a piece of music.
Her reflections become a powerful and heartbreaking portrait of their relationship, as she tries to reconcile the dad she knew with the man she didn’t. Twenty years after she last saw Calum, Sophie reflects on that time, which they spent together in a Turkish holiday resort. Slowly creeping into adolescence, Sophie is trying to uncover her sexuality, and spending rare time with her young father, often mistaken for her brother. The camera was a record he had for himself that Sophie now has. The footage is the only point of view of Calum that Sophie and we have. Through the camera, we have his only direct point of view during their holiday in Turkey.
But I think there is one line through the film that is closer to mine, and I think that’s the one. In terms of sucker punch, when I saw Carol, Todd Haynes’s film, I knew nothing about it going in and hadn’t read the book. There was something in that film that I had never seen before. It was like seeing something of myself on screen that I hadn’t expressed.
There's no denying Princess Charlotte has a close bond with both of her brothers, Prince George and Prince Louis. Over the years, the royal children have shared many tender moments together at major events - from King Charles' coronation to the late Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee Celebrations. Saephan, previously a machinist for an aerospace company, told reporters from AP and The Oregonian that he was born in Laos and moved to Thailand in 1987, before immigrating to the U.S. in 1994.
Over the past decade, the 35-year-old Scottish filmmaker attended film school with business aspirations, directed a handful of short films, and produced a low-budget feature. By the time her feature-length debut “Aftersun” made waves at Cannes, scored distribution with A24, and established her as a major new filmmaking talent, she had been tinkering with the project for years. “Aftersun,” which A24 releases in select theaters Friday, stars newcomer Frankie Corio as 11-year-old Sophie who’s traveling with her father, Calum (Paul Mescal), on a summer vacation in Turkey.
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