A Life Alone by Maisie Crow

"A Life Alone" by Maisie Crow is a multimedia piece about Tom Rose, a man who was widdowed after 63 years of marriage. The piece features a mix of still photos and moving image, with atmospheric audio and a voiceover from Tom. The moving image pieces comprise of location shots (e.g., Tom on the porch of his home on the porch swing, the flag blowing in the wind) and an almost interview-style against a black background where he talks about his wife and their life together.

The whole project is in black and white, which adds to the melancholy of the film, although it is also part of Crow's personal style. Crow's personal style seems to be multimedia based, with the mix of audio, stills, and moving image coming together to make each project (I have also seen her project "Hungry: Living With Prader-Willi Syndrome"). 

The film opens with a ticking clock, and some of Tom's personal pictures of his life with his wife in a quick, flashing slideshow in time to the sound of the clock. The narrative from Tom tells how they met, their wedding, and their lives. They remodelled a farm and lived there for the majority of their married life. Tom calls Mary "a petit, loving little woman, very forgiving, moreso than I", and describes her as someone who "loved to cuddle, she loved to be held, and that's to be loved". The talk then shifts to how Tom copes with being without her, he speaks of how he sleeps downstairs as he can't bear to be in their bedroom without her. He says that everything in the house reminds him of her, that "you try to live your life as you used to, and the used to isn't there... I don't want to live in the past, but there's not much in the future". He speaks about how he found solace in his friends and the church. Tom says he doesn't intend to remarry, that he burried Mary with some of her personal belongings and her wedding ring. He speaks about how there's a time for everything, a "harvest season", and how he needs to keep moving on. Tom often becomes very emotional during the length of his voiceover, at it definitely tugs at the heartstrings.

The visuals that match the audio are some observational portraits of Tom - sometimes appearing overcome by his loss - of the interior of the house (sometimes in detail - kitch ornaments on a shelving unit, objects on the mantlepiece, the kitchen tap dripping), their old love letters (one dated 1943), the exterior of the house, etc. Each image is fitting with the dialogue spoken by Tom (for example, the shot above is shown when Tom speaks about how Mary loved to cuddle, and that he cannot sleep in their bedroom anymore), and adds to the narrative of the overall piece. Although most of the visuals are stills, there is some moving image - the dripping kitchen tap, the flag outside their house, Tom turning the pages of the book of hymns at church. The atmospheric audio includes ticking clocks, part of a speech by the vicar of Tom's church, and Tom singing along in church to a hymn. 

The overall piece shows a real insight to Tom's life in the present, and his life with Mary. It also gives a sense of who Mary was as a person. The loneliness and heartbreak in Tom is palpable - especially during the voiceovers, and the film made me cry on more than one occasion. Crow's unique style to presenting and telling a story truly absorbs the viewer - the layering of audio along with still and moving visuals creates a strong narrative and this creates an atmosphere that stays with the viewer long after the film has ended.