Echo opens with a young girl on the street getting a phone call. We only hear her side of it but it is clear that something serious has happened to her father and he has been taken to hospital. As she cries and is overwhelmed, people come to comfort and help her out.
This short film appears not to have too much going on in it but this is primarily because it doesn't really give us a start/middle/end narrative and in particular the ending is very open indeed, leaving it to the viewer to decide what they think for themselves. It is a risky approach because you need the viewer to work with the film, but in this case it does come off. The character of Caroline appears different at several points of the film and all that has happened is that the viewer's perspective of her has shifted, she has not changed herself. These perspective changes are what drives the film forward in place of narrative developments and they mostly work while also leaving things open.
The main reason this approach works is that Carse is brilliant in the lead role. She is very convincing in her character, no matter what is happening and even when she appears to be wholly one thing or one way, she has enough in there so that it is clear nothing is as simple as it appears. Considering she is on screen the whole time and that the audience's view on her was so key, it was important that she deliver and indeed she did. Arnold's direction is even-handed, with plenty of longer shots which highlight how good a job Carse is doing.
Echo is not really about a traditional story so much as it is about the viewer's understanding of Caroline, and it is open at the end, so I can see why some may have an issue with it, however it is cleverly done in the construction and the potential in the writing is perfectly realized by a very strong central performance from Carse.
This short film appears not to have too much going on in it but this is primarily because it doesn't really give us a start/middle/end narrative and in particular the ending is very open indeed, leaving it to the viewer to decide what they think for themselves. It is a risky approach because you need the viewer to work with the film, but in this case it does come off. The character of Caroline appears different at several points of the film and all that has happened is that the viewer's perspective of her has shifted, she has not changed herself. These perspective changes are what drives the film forward in place of narrative developments and they mostly work while also leaving things open.
The main reason this approach works is that Carse is brilliant in the lead role. She is very convincing in her character, no matter what is happening and even when she appears to be wholly one thing or one way, she has enough in there so that it is clear nothing is as simple as it appears. Considering she is on screen the whole time and that the audience's view on her was so key, it was important that she deliver and indeed she did. Arnold's direction is even-handed, with plenty of longer shots which highlight how good a job Carse is doing.
Echo is not really about a traditional story so much as it is about the viewer's understanding of Caroline, and it is open at the end, so I can see why some may have an issue with it, however it is cleverly done in the construction and the potential in the writing is perfectly realized by a very strong central performance from Carse.
