Black Sea Short Film Review

Directed by: Khvicha Emiridze and Tinatin Emiridze

Short Film Review by: Holly Baker

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Black Sea (2021) is an ode to the art of stillness and quiet. Through imaginative cinematic depictions and the use of silence, the film conveys a strong sense of grief and despair without ever directly addressing its subject matter. By being vague and short, capturing small moments of these characters’ lives, this brief procession of scenes creates a voiceless sense of death which permeates its entire runtime.

A family are living on the shores of the Black Sea and seems to have had their everyday routines halted by a life-altering event. Directed by Khvicha Emiridze and Tinatin Emiridze, this Georgian short film, just under 15 minutes in length, lacks any dialogue, relying solely on performance, sound, and mise en scène to convey its story. Each shot lingers, allowing the viewer a few quiet moments of contemplation to grasp what may be occurring here for the small family, both emotionally and literally.

Black Sea is composed of subtly gut-punching wide shots. Each shot appears as if it could be a painting, symbolically hinting towards the family’s situation. Sparking curiosity and a sense of dread, the still, wide shots of the film create an effective, mysterious, gloomy feel that maintains itself throughout. There is a deathly stillness to many moments in this film, leading to an eerie feeling of dread and sorrow, enhanced by its lack of dialogue. Some of these moments come across as unsubtly stark but necessary to bring to light what has occurred.

An element of blandness comes through in the film’s first half. From the greyscale of the characters’ costumes to the beige food that is on the table in front of them, the use of bland colour schemes creates a sense of dull emptiness that seems to permeate these characters’ lives.

The sullen performances in Black Sea are heavily impactful. Through facial expression and body language, viewers get a sense of the character’s internal turmoil. Notable is the performance of the father figure in the film, played by Niko Tavadze, whose subtly frustrated body language adds a layer of nuance to the family’s grief.

Musical elements of this film, which are sporadic and at times nonsensically jarring, create a delirious feeling of confusion. This adds to the heartrending sense that the characters are unable to process or speak about what has happened, just as the film itself can find no suitable way to address it.

The film’s title – Black Sea – aptly draws attention to the sea’s personified importance. The sea is a sinister character here, concealing secrets whilst offering a possible escape. It is also at the centre stage of many of the film’s most powerful, beautiful shots, setting the tone for the film’s overall mysterious visual landscape.

Black Sea is quietly chilling. Through imagery and performance, the film has the structure of a poem, finding abstract ways to present a story that pulls on the viewer’s emotions and engages the senses. Whilst hinting towards the family’s dynamic and situation through intrinsic performances, the film is continuously mysterious in substance, allowing the viewer subtle clues of what they are seeing. Featuring beautifully memorable shots, crafted to linger, Black Sea is profoundly impactful.