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Matinee: 'Developing A Secret'
7 December 2024
Saturday matinees long ago let us escape from the ordinary world to the island of the Swiss Family Robinson or the mutinous decks of the Bounty. Why not, we thought, escape the usual fare here with Saturday matinees of our favorite photography films?
So we're pleased to present the 581st in our series of Saturday matinees today: Developing A Secret.
This 5:47 production written and directed by Shiliang Gao hit home. It's a nicely photographed, well-told story with an unexpected punch line.
So don't be put off by the poetic license taken with things like film development. Suspend disbelief.
For that matter, suspend disbelief before you start watching. In the beginning of the film, a quite unrealistic event occurs. The equivalent of an Uber driver drops off his passenger and, before he drives off, notices the guy has left his backpack on the rear seat.
In real life, the driver rolls down his window and yells to his passenger that he forgot something. In this video, the driver just drives off with the goods.
It would have improved the story a bit if the passenger had merely left his camera on the back seat and taken his backpack. And the less sinister driver only discovers it after it was too late to roll down his window and yell.
Minor quibble, though.
Worse is the depiction of film developing. Yes, you can develop film in a tank at the sink. But it won't likely be color film. And you won't agitate it like that (ugh!) or take it out of the tank to wash it under the faucet.
And, no, you can't put a strip of color negative film in an all-in-one device with no transparency unit and get a 4x6 print.
So, yes, there are some real laughers in this production.
But it's short enough not to overly annoy as it makes its way toward a more significant point.