Going Going

A young woman has her childhood fears return to her as she suffers panic and loss after the death of her mother. She partly blames herself in her head. The situation is worsened as her husband complains of a pain in his side.

The rush and babbling effect of this short made me think it was going nowhere and was too abstract to be enjoyable when I started to watch it. The film starts with Anna recounting childhood fears and talking quickly with imaginary figures and the `ghost' of her mother (as cast by lampshades). However after a few minutes the storm of words began to come together and start to make sense and paint a picture.

Anna has lost her mother and is struggling with feelings of guilt and loss. This is well shown in her worry over her husband and things like her mother's reassuring voice coming from the images Anna would remember from her childhood that scared her and were followed by her mother's soothing voice. This works well if you stick with it and draw as much as you can from what is a very well written stream of dialogue and observations. The lead actress does well, as you'd expect from the writer and really she is carrying the whole thing herself with little strain.

Overall it all seems a little arty and pointless at the start. But if you stick with it then you should be presented with a picture of Anna's life and what has brought on her anxiety. It is presented as a babble of emotions and words but really is very well written to tell us things without having to actually tell us them. Not brilliant but well written.