a film by Paul Oremland
2007 | 87 mins | UK
Tom Harper .... Adam
Dawn Steele .... Amy
Séan Brenden Brosnan .... Jake
Simon Callow .... St
Nicholas Jones .... Lord Raven
Abigail Hollick .... Sandy
Ian Rose .... Ben
William Osborne .... Ned
Michael Elwyn .... Dad
Julian Date .... Headmaster
Surveillance
an engaging British thriller mixing
suspense, comical undertones
and gay royalty
Available on DVD as part of the
Peccadillo Pictures catalogue
www.peccadillopod.com
|
|
After a gap of nine years director Paul Oremland of LIKE IT IS fame makes a welcome
return with this engaging, if unconventionally shot British thriller.
For when gay IT teacher Adam fancies a night out clubbing, he get more than he bargained for
when his one-night stand turns out to be Jake; a society photographer, son of a major media mogul
and boyfriend to...well that would be saying, but put it this way, there could well be blue
blood running through his veins. All of which makes the powers that be, ill at ease. Then again,
they are not alone, given the next day Jake promptly disappears, only to wind up dead. Realising
that he could be next in line for the kill, Adam turns to an old university friend for help, in
a move that may not be to his advantage given budding television presenter Amy is out for a
headline story. And the fact that she works for a leading news network owned by the father
of his midnight encounter, only complicates matters further. Unsure of who to trust bar
former lover Ben, in a bid of desperation Adam turns to The Saint, a man of Jake's
acquaintance in the hope that somehow he knows the answers to his many questions.
Inspite of the opening proclamation citing that "the footage in this film is taken from
surveillance cameras and CCTV," such is clearly not the case. All of which is a welcome relief,
given it would otherwise imply that Big Brother has expanded his viewing into the cubicles
found on the London sauna scene. Yet with Great Britain having more than 4 million CCTV
cameras and the average Briton caught on camera an estimated 300 times in a day, the factuality
of the line "you could pick up on a target getting on a train in Glasgow and track him
all the way down to a shop in Oxford street" may well be riding close to the truth.
What is not in doubt is that Oremland delights in shooting his work journalistic style, editing
it together using an array of creative techniques from fake CCTV footage and spy-cams, to
hand-held camera sequences and the like of mobile phone footage. Whether the result is
to your liking however is open to question, for whilst emphasising the surveillance
theme of the piece, such could end up being a turnoff for some, distracting at times
your attention from the narrative itself. Then again, you cannot help but admire
a director who has gone out of his way to try something different.
Such endeavours are matched by a film noir story that hooks us in with government agents who
do not mind breaking the law, if indeed they are not above it, underhanded goings on in the
media, let alone a bit of pink blood at the heart of the monarchy. To that end, Simon Callow
revels in the part of a disgruntled royal aide, armed as he is with some of the best lines
in a film that has many, mixing as-it-does suspense with comical undertones. Only should
an element of comedy be present in a work of this nature? Thankfully LIKE IT IS star
Ian Rose and Séan Brosnan, son of 'licensed to kill' Pierce are on hand to
offer fine support to Tom Harper, who delivers a natural sensitivity to the
part of a man whose life is rapidly spiraling out of control.
As a film that questions the line between personal privacy and a Big Brother state,
Oremland has delivered a feature that is both entertaining and alarming, drip feeding us as
is his way with fragments of the story, at times told flashback style, before assembling
all the pieces in the final reel for our viewing pleasure. That this is but a work of fiction is
not in doubt, although I dare say that conspiracy theorists will be having a field day over
whether certain aspects of the screenplay by Kevin Sampson are based more on fact, than
fiction. What is apparent, is that the question of just how far Big Brother is capable
of watching you, should be raised alongside the issue of how free from misuse
and truly safe is the information that the state already holds on us?
|
