Look Up by Liz Banks

One of the first films that I watched for this project was Liz's film "Look Up". It is about her mother's death, and features still shots with movement (a still camera with autumn leaves moving in the wind, for example), atmospheric audio, and a spoken narrative.

I feel the imagery is very ambiguous for the subject, and includes shots of various skies (day and night), rain, leaves, blossom, and water. None of the shots seem to hold an explicit sense of loss (as in really personal content, from an outsider's point of view), and the narrative and imagery are ambiguous enough that anyone could project their feelings of loss onto it. There are a few subtle things within the shots that I noticed that allude to loss, for example, in one shot of the sky, a plane flies through the frame. This to me has connotations of loss and moving on. In fact, this and two other shots signified to me stages of grief from the Kubler-Ross model (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance). The shots of the night sky and the rain at night signified depression to me, while the shot of the plane across the sky signifies acceptance. All of the shots, as they are empty of people, magnify the loss.

The spoken narrative is personal, but also ambiguous (I felt this the most with "Look up at the sky"). There are personal examples of her mother's loss and the end of her life ("Seeing you there, in the hospital bed...") that are quite directive towards her mother. However, there are also parts that I feel are ambiguous and could be the thoughts and feelings of anyone who has suffered a loss ("The night time was the worst time. Filling the dark void with our loss."). The repeated line "Look up at the sky. There is comfort in the sky" could be a personal quote relating to Liz's loss, or a line that makes it easier for the audience to relate to. The whole narrative is written almost poetically, personal and vague at the same time, and spoken in a soft, slow voice that fits the vibe of the film.

I like the way Liz approached the theme of loss within her film, and originally watched this after I had come up with the idea and approach for my film, so I hope it doesn't look like I copied my own tutor!