The Accident

Uncle Stephen lives at Sara's grandmother's house. He has a huge record collection but never plays them and spends all his time writing letters with a fountain pen. Sara thinks back on her memories of him.
　　I am used to Blackwatch produced films being very cool and interesting animations and in a way this film came over as quite ordinary and not visually up to the standard I had come to expect. However this impression was a fleeting one because the film has its own hook. This is the way that the film is very personal to writer/director Nesteruk and the story engaged me from the start. As a collection of words, they don't mean a terrible lot and there is not a revelation etc to talk about here but what it does do is weave that personal touch throughout the delivery.
　　I assume the narration is by Nesteruk because if not then it is excellent and not just very good. The tone of voice and familiarity with the subject comes through and it helped me by making me feel closer to the material than the words and images actually facilitated. The images work along this line too. Far from being the impressively rich detail of some of the other Mesh short films, this is sketchy and blotted. This style links with the letter writing of the tale but mostly it worked for me because it reminded me of memories – of images that maybe lack a little detail and a bit faded with time but yet also very strong in their own way.
　　Overall then an engagingly personal film; it may not come through in the words themselves but the delivery brings this out best with the narration and animation.