Yesterday I went to the bloggers’ screening of Hallam Foe orchestrated by Hugh Macleod. It was a really good evening and as JP Rangaswami says, very bloggy in nature. I loved the way Dave Mackenzie, the director, introduced the fillm, asking us not to review it, and inviting us to help him figure out what the film’s identity is. That request itself reflected the sort of adolescent angst and search for meaning that the film evokes so hauntingly. Like Gia and JP, I’m not going to spoil the experience of figuring out Hallam Foe for yourself by saying much more about the plot. I will say that I found it engaging, intelligent, funny and mysterious in roughly equal measure.
Of course, I’m biassed. Hugh is a friend and this was a freebie. I like being biassed that way… that’s what happens when people are successfully engaged in the conversation around any marketing object. Showing us his film in unfinished form was a risk for Dave, but one that I’d say will pay off for him. And totally appropriate to the messy world of blogs where we never really finish anything…
