Review: Arka Gupta's Distancing a confronting melodrama

Distancing actors Lydia Smith, Taryn Field and Cam Dickons discuss making the film. Photo / Judith Lacy

Distancing
Written and directed by Arka Gupta
Globe Theatre
Saturday, April 10
Reviewed by Damian Thorne

I like to think I give away a small morsel of myself in each of my reviews, the similarities I may find, or the bell situations ring for me. Arka Gupta has crafted two short films that both deal with mental health – something I deal with everyday via a finely tuned cocktail of pharmaceuticals.

First up on the big screen in Globe Theatre 2 - yes, I find myself here again watching movies while actual cinemas sit empty - is Udiyoman, or Emerging. Sole actor Sam Wyss bravely allows extreme close-ups throughout the film and runs a gambit of emotions without uttering a word.

It is impressive storytelling when dialogue is exited and a tale is told using expression, clever camera work including bold edits, and a powerful score by Tommy Whitehouse. Gupta's protagonist leaves behind an everyday life of turmoil and escapes to the woods, featuring Tarantino-length driving sequences and a quote by Henry David Thoreau voiced over as Wyss's character looks forward into something more positive. Or does he?

The main feature, Distancing, is less thoughtful and more confronting as talented Cam Dickons juggles a wife, a girlfriend and Covid-19 at the start of the 2020 lockdown.
Oddly, Gupta draws comparison with this film and 2009's 500 Days of Summer. Where 500 Days is a lightweight quirky rom-com with an outstanding soundtrack, Distancing is a mean-spirited melodrama, with plenty more driving, illegal parking, views of the Esplanade and little in the way of redeeming qualities.

The actors, Dickons, Taryn Field and Lydia Smith, all come from theatre backgrounds, and the uncomfortable shift to film shows in places with some over-the-top acting. We discuss the acting shift afterwards in the Q and A and hear delightful anecdotes about Field going a little method in her acting to stay in character, and Dickons constantly reminding himself he is not the duplicitous guy he is committing to celluloid.

A question is asked of Gupta about advice he would give to wannabe filmmakers. Gupta talks about rare Russian lenses purchased on eBay, we see a clip of him falling over for his craft into a flower bed at the Esplanade, but the overall message he delivers is: "Just do it."

As much as I talk freely about mental health, I also always notice generosity, and tonight I witness it in droves. Gupta's cast and crew think the world of him, and he of them. A group of talented folk who take their roles seriously, understand the meaning of the word collaboration and give freely of their time to provide a Saturday night's entertainment I would never have even dreamt of.

I approach Gupta after the screenings and ask for something a little lighter in material next time. "I'll worry about you if you keep producing films that are this dark," I add. He smiles brightly and I can imagine the cogs turning creatively inside his skull.