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★
Directed by: #MolSmith
Written by: Mol Smith
Starring: #SophieTownsend, #KemalYildirim, #LorieLanieShanks, #MellMills, #TessaMcGinn, #AmelieLeroy
The Lorelei is a fantasy/ crime mystery film created by Mol Smith, who was clearly influenced by the German myth of the Lorelei. The Lorelei was said to be a mermaid, or a water nymph, who would lure men to their deaths at the River Rhine. The Lorelei, like the sirens, used her beautiful voice to entice men and trick them. As well as this, the film also explores themes of sadomasochism, prostitution and love. The Lorelei follows many characters, but the main ones seem to be Daniel (Kemal Yildirim), Sarah (Sophie Townsend and Rebecca (Lorie-Lanie Shanks). Rebecca hires Daniel as a private detective to find her father’s murderer, meanwhile a string of other men’s bodies start appearing.
The plot was a bit hard to follow at times but I think this was mostly due to the fact that the character relationships were also hard to follow. I couldn’t always tell who cared about who or who was in a relationship with who, especially when it came to Daniel and Sarah. On top of this, the acting was unfortunately mediocre; I suppose some actors performed better than others yet there were no stand-out performances for me.
In regards to the score: it was alright. The main theme tune is slightly irritating once you hear it for more than 5 minutes. I understand that the female vocals are included for the purpose of alluding to the Lorelei mythology, nevertheless it wasn’t the best to have to listen to throughout most of the film... it isn’t exactly a score written by Hans Zimmer (which I would gladly listen to throughout an entire film!). Also, random edits or cuts in the music are slightly grating. Presumably the cuts were to suggest important moments and moments of recognition which is fine, but sadly the editing was off. At certain points you can even clearly hear and SEE when dialogue has been dubbed because the sound quality varied too much and the dubbing was badly done, and this was extremely distracting. The editing in general is what let me down the most in this film.
The Lorelei is a feature length film and has a run time of just under 2 hours, however within the first 10 minutes, you can tell that it isn’t going to be of the highest quality in regards to the editing and cinematography. You notice some very abrupt changes in shots that happen too quickly and last for such a minute amount of time, you wonder if the shot was even necessary. Furthermore, some fractions of scenes are cut out, I assume in an effort to cut down time, but it comes off as sloppy. One minute a person is there and the next they’re not!
ANOTHER issue with the editing I had was the decision to add filters, which seemed amateurish. Although it’s an easy way, it’s not the most skilful way show a change in time or place, which is what the filters were purposed for. Some of the filters chosen actually lowered the visual quality of the film. Not to mention that a lot of the flashbacks shown were a waste of time, the audience should be given some credit in their ability to remember something that was shown to them 5 minutes ago... they don’t need a flashback!
Overall, there were just too many sub-par factors about this film that made me dislike it. I think Mol Smith’s initial idea and story was an interesting and appealingly nitty-gritty one but it just wasn’t executed well enough.
The Lorelei is available to rent on UK Film Channel. Click the banner below to go there now.
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