SPRING

"TELL ME ABOUT THE FINITE"

Life isn't going very well for Evan, he held his mother's hand as her withered body gave out it's final breath.  Traumatised and angry at the world for her death, he decides to go for a drink with a friend to drown his sorrows.  Drunk, grieving and angry, Evan quickly finds himself the attention of a barroom drunk.  However rather than walking away Evan chooses to lash out and give the drunk a sound beating.  

Rather than just going for the simple revenge beating at the hands of his friends the drunk reports Evan's attack to the police.  Not wanting to face the police   Evan takes a trip to Italy. 

Initially Evan meets up with a pair of obnoxious drunken English tourists.  Loudmouthed, foul, rude and derogatory towards women but they seem to be what he is looking for to take his mind off what has happened to him.  

Then everything changes one evening when Evan encounters the mysterious and sensual Louise.  He is instantly infatuated with her, a stunning beauty who is only interested in a casual relationship,there and then, she won't even agree to a date the next night.  When he lucks out and she leaves Evan knows he must find her then convince her to go on a  date.  

And this is when things start to get very weird. ...

That's about all I want to say about the actual plot as to talk about it any further would disarm the film of a lot of what makes it such an effective film.  It is a hard film to classify, a horror / science fiction romance / fairy tale is probably how I would describe it.  Please don't be put of by the romance part of this film, be very aware this is no wishy washy magnolia nonsense like Twilight.  

Spring is a captivating, dream-like film that has an almost ethereal quality to it.  An emotionally charged film that breaths new life into the star crossed lovers type story that has become a staple of all writing and film production.  A Romeo and Juliet for the horror fans.  Louise's Juliet is an emotionally neutral character almost devoid of human emotions, in certain ways she is similar to the character that Scarlett Johanson played in Under the Skin, she is sensual and passionate, but totally devoid of normal human emotions, incapable of feeling love, she is almost like an alien among us.  

Counter to this is Evan, headstrong, impatient and a man who is ruled by his heart.  His initial feelings of lust are quickly by love, or at least what he feels as love.  

Credit has to be given to the two leads as a lot of what makes this film so special is their performances.   Nadia Hilker's performance as Louise is amazing.  Her character is standoffish and somewhat aloof as a result of her curse or gift, yet we still warm to her and care for her. We feel her fear at what is to come, and we feel sad at a  life without the one true love.  

Lou Taylor Pucci's performance is equally assured, despite coming across as rather childish and annoying determined to get what he wants, and prone to tantrums if he doesn't get it.  And yet, we still want him to get the girl. However it is when he shares the screen with the object of his affection that the film transcends into a poetic and magical experience. Their performances play of each other turning their story in to a graceful and truly romantic experience.  The wonderfully natural dialogue adds layers to the overall effect of the story, even if at times Evan would say things that you wouldn't expect him to say.  

A horror film that relies not on cliched jump scares and sudden loud noises to unsettle the audience is a rare thing.  Spring builds the horror and general feeling of dread from a slow build of atmosphere.  The horror comes more from the plight of Louise and realization that she as seen so much death and loss, too much for any one person.   

The cinematography of the film is sublime, glorious long shots of the sun drenched Italian landscape combined with a sumptuous score that captures every nuance of the film perfectly lend the film a magical quality all of its own.  

My only problem I had with the film is when we get an info dump about Louise's condition. The scientific explanation felt somewhat put of place in a film that invokes certain Lovecraftian themes.  The info dump allows for a full explanation of the final scene of the film, I just wish the filmmakers were more confident in not just their film but at our ability to get the film. The final scene could still have played out the way it did without the explanation and I still think most of us would still have understood it.  Sometimes we just don't need to know why, we just need to watch.  

Spring is a masterpiece of film making, a powerful and hypnotic film, if this is the future of horror films then the genre is in a great place.  


  

Before Sunrise gets a supernatural twist in this tale of an American backpacker in Italy who falls in love with a beautiful young woman harbouring a dark, primordial secret. A truly beautiful and genre-defying romance that had critics swept off their feet during its recent premiere at Toronto Film Festival, with one critic describing the film as legitimate cinematic art Proving to be unlike anything audiences have seen before, Spring is an expertly crafted work that skilfully balances both romance and horror.

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