Whenever I receive disks from films from either Picadillo Pictures or TLA Releases (two of the main gay film distribution companies), I like to check out the trailers to see what else I might want to watch in the future. One thing I always notice is that usually if the film is about gay men then they will have trailers for gay men films and the same for lesbians. It is almost like lesbians and gay men live separate lives and want to live in some sort of gender division utopia. I have to admit I sometimes get like that as you may be able to tell.
Anyway, when I received Break My Fall I had not realised that the two main characters were females and it was based around the hedonistic 'Shoreditch' scene - not exactly my thing. Oh well, I thought I would give this a go and I have to admit the first 20 minutes I found very difficult and slightly boring. But then something hit me. I worked out what the director was trying to achieve which transformed my whole perspective of the film.
The story revolves around the breakdown of the relationship between Lisa and Sally and how they cope through excessive consumption of drugs and alcohol. The sleeve of the disk refers to the film as being 'blistering' - creating images of hard clubbing scenes which actually the film is everything but. It covers the come down rather than the party. It can be difficult to watch but you get this dis-functional hangover feeling through watching the breakdown of their relationship while they are recovering from the night before. It is clear Kanchi Wichmann, the director, is clearly trying to make an analogy between human relationships and drugs. It really made me reflect on some aspects of own my life.
I have to say I was very impressed with Wichmann's directorial debut. Yes, sometimes the acting is wooden and the script slightly fails at points but blimey she has potential. Not a huge fan of films which put lesbians at the centre stage but this certainly is one of my favourites!
4/5 - an impressive debut!
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