Starring: Dodie Clark, Savannah Brown, Bertie Gilbert, Jack Howard.
In Bertie Gilbert's latest short film, he brings death to life.
Let It Be follows a newly broken up couple in their run-in with 'Death'. Both literally and figuratively.
Once again Gilbert produces a visual masterpiece. He shows talent beyond his age and skills that could easily take him to Sundance and the likes.
The cinematography produced by Ciaran O'Brien, was stunning. This is definitely a strong point in all of Gilbert's films. The colours brought some lightness into a darker theme but managed not to overplay it. The severe usage of the fog machine did get a bit too much at times however. Colours, costumes and shots were all supremely produced.
Script-wise, Let It Be told a very sweet but sad tale of love and death. It was written quite poetically and though only 18 minutes long, offered a lot. When you rewatch it, after finding out the plot twist at the end, you realise just how well structured and thought out it is. Whilst I struggle to identify some of the themes, it's still an interesting perspective on death and a very original idea.
Gilberts YouTube friends came through with the acting and actually pleasantly surprised me. Dodie and Savannah put on a very natural yet still emotive performance. They were enjoyable to watch and their bond off-screen definitely helped bring something else on-screen.
The soundtrack, done again by Tom Rosenthal, captured the dreamy world they were living in and parallelled the on screen visuals well. It tied together the film perfectly.
Overall, another good film from Gilbert. The film very much reminded me of the work of E4. Programmes such as Skins or My Mad Fat Diary, where it has a very British-indie-homemade filter to it. It's the kind of thing I love and I think this is a film that will inspire a lot of the younger generation.
