Review Wording Draft

1. Context - Sam 

In a time where there is now more accessible social freedom in our society and the shadowy realm of the word 'gay' has been somewhat lifted, 'Intertwined' is an insight into the lives of the newest generation and their liberal approach to love. The directors of this up and coming production company take from their own personal lives to provide an entertaining yet enticing piece of social realism that is truly representative of the belief that we should be able to love who we choose in our country.

 

2. Summary around protaganist - Sam

With newcomers Megan Webb and Matt Holt to the short film stage, our unnamed protagonists are both getting ready for a date that requires a lot of prepping (especially for the female character) whilst the audience is teased with minimal information from a texting sequence. This lack of information, along with an enigmatic title achieves perfectly its aim to create an assumption of a heteronormative storyline in its audience as per normal, but au contraire, it’s nice to have something different on your screen for a change.

​3. Key themes, issues and plot – Briony

This film puts a colourful twist on a classic, basic, romance story. With a strong LGBTQ theme, this film is definitely a modern representation of romance. The film starts with the female lead, played by Megan Webb, getting ready for a date. Cross cutting is used to show the parallel of the story as we see the male character, played by Matt Holt, also get ready. Using tracking shots we follow the two characters on their journeys. To add to the enigma of the film no dialogue is used as the two protagonists communicate. Text on screen is used instead of dialogue giving a modern take on silent and classic noir films.

4. Narrative devices (+ uses) - Melissa
The directors have experimented with the gap between the film’s plot and its story. Using a minimal amount of dialogue, the story of both the characters is hidden behind the editing of the film. It’s slow moving and we are left omniscient; it tricks the viewer into believing that they know the answer. Until they don’t. That’s what creates the suspense, the enigma. What happens now? That’s what they want to know. It is at this moment that the viewer realises just how restricted this narration has been throughout and highlights just how disconnected they are from the character’s stories.  

5. Use and adaptation of genre conventions - Melissa 

This film uses the repetition of typical semantic codes of romantic genre to play with the viewer. You have your young male and female leads who spend a majority of their time on-screen grinning at their phones in such a way that subtly reminds you of the way Hugh Grant gawks at Julia Roberts in Notting Hill. Those who have already seen it will see the irony here. These directors have supplied a creative use of variation; they’ve shown us a unique way to celebrate love in its entirety.

6. Reviewer's experience and summary sentence - Chayana


Filled to the brim with tooth rotting clichés, the film leaves a lingering thought about how audiences assume to know the ending of a film due to the ‘clues’ that they watch romance for. At first we are they understand that they are watching a film about a modern day relationship- which they are, only in way they weren’t quite expecting. It’s light-hearted tone is a feel good film that takes a refreshing take on what a relationship looks like in the 21^st century.