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Medicine for Melancholy By Deepi Harish A one night stands encounter spills over into two, possibly three days of play, this is how the simple and tasteful film tagged as Medicine for Melancholy unfolds. The film is fashioned around two fresh faces, one male and female, on the verge of discovering each other and their city of San Francisco. Shot in a unique de-saturated way, captured on a digital camera rather than on film, this low budget flick follows the character of Micah and Jo whom are dissimilar in personality, which evokes an intriguing dialogue, playing as constant throughout the film. The conversation is centered around three main sentiments; race, the ring of dilapidated inner city housing projects and the strange chemistry that allures Micah to Jo and Jo to Micah, which is beyond physical vanity. Micah is obsessed with the African American population specifically in San Francisco, he intentionally stages conversational scenario inviting Jo to take a stance in his topic of discussion, Jo however, keeps her words to a minimum. Her disinterest in the topic disturbs Micah, pushing him into a state of frustration, revealing a side of himself that Jo finds ugly. Calm is restored; pristine sounds of silence are present when Micah and Joe are indoors, in Micah’s sanctuary, where the biggest piece of furniture within the four walls is his bed. The film appears in a sepia tone, minimal burst of colour are exposed exclusively during provocative moments in the film. The character of Micah shares more than a few similarity traits with the real like director of the film, Barry Jenkins. During the Q and A session after the film, Barry attested that he was recently in an interracial relationship and after the breakup he thought; “I was an interesting character in that relationship. I am a moviemaker so why not make a movie about it.” And that’s how this great medicine was created for the melancholy that Barry lugged around. Barry repeatedly emphasized the fact that this is in fact a small film, with a small amount of financial aid. To his surprise, he was astonished by the reception that showed up to view his debut feature. The cast of the film was an assemblage of merely five people, whom are real life residences of San Francisco. The five played a vital part both on and off screen; they were the editors, actors, the by standers, the extras. The film touches on spontaneity, persistent of pursuit, lusting over something, someone that you can’t have and of course, melancholy. The soundtrack to the film indeed matched the scene. I must say at times the music became distracting as it was overpowering, however the thumping beats kept the scene busy, when at times, what was depicted on the screen could have easily lacked a feeling.  |