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Clip description
Chris (Richard Green) is enjoying a quiet moment alone with his guitar before the arrival of his lunch guests. He hears a car pull up, looks out the window and sees, to his alarm, that an uninvited visitor has arrived. Chris tries to pretend that he’s not home, but the visitor, Owen (Stuart Clark), lets himself into the house and immediately puts pressure on Chris – who has sworn off alcohol and drugs – to drink.
Curator’s notes
This sequence starts at the end of the film’s opening 10 minutes, which are free of dialogue. Stenders has already built tension by quietly observing the nervous intensity with which Chris prepares for his guests. With the unwelcome arrival of Owen, the tension increases – note Chris’s dramatic body language as he leans, spread-eagled, against the door while peering through the spy-hole. It becomes obvious that this Boxing Day lunch, clearly very important to Chris, will not go according to plan.
The mobile camera takes the viewer from room to room, mapping out the internal space where the drama will play out. This technique is used throughout and lends a kinetic energy that helps prevent the film’s single setting from feeling theatrical.
Richard Green is a former prisoner who previously acted in Stenders’s prize-winning short film, Two/Out (1998). The strength of his portrayal, both physical and emotional, is clearly apparent in this scene.
