BAIT

Review: Martin Ward is a fisherman without a boat, his brother Steven has re-purposed it as a tourist tripper. This causing a wedge between the two brothers. Their childhood home is now a get-away for London money. Martin now finds himself displaced to the estate which is above the harbour. It is a struggle to restore the family and creates friction between tourists and locals.
Director: Mark Jenkin
Actors: Edward Rowe, Mary Woodvine, Simon Shepherd, Jowan Jacobs and Tristan Sturrock
Year: 2019
Genre: Drama
Conclusion: 5/5
This is a Cornish film directed and written by Mark Jenkin. The director processed the 16mm film himself. Apparently he used unorthodox processing methods such as using vitamin powder. I have to say that I have never seen a film like this before. It is totally mesmerising. Shot completely silent and then dubbed after. This gives the dialogue a slight disconnected quality to the film. Also shot in black and white. One thing I love about it is the close-ups of all the people and the slow-motion of doing up all the knots of the fishermens’ baskets. There were some truly shocking moments in this that you wouldn’t expect to happen. Most of the film was shot in the Admiral Benbow, Penzance. This pub was opened in 1959 which houses thousands of artefacts salvaged from ships wrecked of the Cornish coast and the Isles of Scilly. It is a film that I would love to see again. I have found myself thinking a lot about this film since and keep coming back to it. Unfortunately it is a film that you need to seek out and has only been showing at selected cinemas. At the Bafta Awards in 2020 this won one award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.