Beaches, Coffee and Day Dreams
A Review of “The Novelist”
Many of us dream of abandoning our day jobs to any number of things: selling hotdogs on the beach, trolling for large ocean-going fish or perhaps running away to write the great American novel. How many of us make that leap beyond a closed-eyed daydream?
In “The Novelist,” from Director Noelle Knopp, certain expectations are set with the short film’s title. A surreal sense of escape is established with the opening scene. However, viewers will quickly be wondering: what can a beach-strolling, guitar-playing guy have to do with writing a novel? A full minute of beach walking is a lot of screen time to spend following feet. Look closely though. The scene raises questions: what is in the briefcase? What is the guitar for? Ohhh, now I get it. Does the Novelist use music as his inspiration?
While the viewer is busy looking for answers, over six minutes of a ten-minute movie races by before a word of dialogue is spoken. It’s a bit captivating. In a few moments of reality, Will, the novelist, struggles to get words on a blank page. Frustrated, he wads up pages and throws them into pounding, ocean surf. What does that have to do with anything? Writers will understand the need to kick their work off the desk, but others may not. But, pay careful attention to what blows back off the water at Will…
“ The Novelist” fits the SFFF Dream Awake theme and will screen before the documentary feature “Moving from Emptiness: The Life and Art of a Zen Dude” on Saturday May 3, 2014 at 3:30 pm at the Center for Contemporary Arts.
