.png)
Written and Directed by Ajay Abalaka
Starring Tracy Adjei
Short Film Review by Rachel Pullen
In life we all need to escape our own realities, be that through holidays, drinking, spending money on stuff we don’t need, mine’s the strip club, but is that really enough? What if the safe utopia of escapism begins to escape its own charm?
The Sublime is the story of a young woman played by Tracy Adjei who can no longer find the sense of freedom and calm that she once had from her imaginary utopia, and when her reality becomes even more unbearable she takes it upon herself to create a new safe space, The Sublime.
This short is more like an accompaniment to a poetry piece, we see our leading lady going about her day and trying to find a place where she can feel calm and at one with herself [maybe she should try a yoga class?], but she does not engage with the camera or anyone else, in fact she does not really engage with her surroundings a great deal, she is simply there as a guide to the spoken word.
We are taken through her home town [which to my surprise is only a 20 minute drive from where I live] following her, watching from behind buildings, like a peeping tom trying to decipher her moves, The Sublime keeps us as an audience on the outskirts of the leading lady’s life but with full access to her internal desires, making for an interesting juxtaposition.
Director and writer Ajay Abalaka works with a wide range of camera styles, which is useful as we are limited to where our character takes us, and as I said before with no interaction from anyone in the piece Abalaka has used her skills as a director to make for a visually stimulating journey around this seaside town.
This is a short though that has very little appeal to the wider audience, most would find it lacking in any kind of stimulation and so might not pick up on the true meaning behind the film, but for those who have an interest in cinematography or poetry this has great appeal.
Visually entertaining and thought provoking The Sublime is an interesting investigation of the human mind, condition and desires.
.png)
