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50 YEARS
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! The meaning of ! love is experienced differently by each of us. However as a society, we are ! constantly fed! the perfect type of love through the relationships ! portrayed within films, television and novels. 50 ! Years & 50 Minutes challenges this sterotypical ! archetype. ! 50 Years & 50! Minutes is a docudrama, looking at ! how relationships have changed. In the 1950s it ! was a common culture that before a girl could ! enter a relationship, she must be courted and sex ! before marriage was a no-go area. In contrast ! today, relationships have become much more ! complicated with terms such as Friends with ! Buddies and Complicated being Benefits, Fuck ! sex has become much more frequently used; ! casual. ! Writer and director, Grace Tilley based the ! documentary element of her film on the ! relationship of her grandparents, looking at their ! relationship from when they first met, through their ! courting and their marriage whilst interweaving the ! modern day fictional story of a girl who meets a ! guy at a bar and ! ends up sleeping with him. This juxtaposition between the two narratives:the ! elderly womans ! story with the teenage girl's, made me wonder whether todays generation of girls has ! swapped their !lack of freedom for just another: they no longer! feel able to say no. I thought ! the clever narrative was visually communicated ! through Tilleys contrast in cinematography ! and editing. The still medium shot of the Elderly Lady montaged with the variety of ! shots telling the ! teenagers tale, connotes to the audience a more ! stable relationship: her 50 years set against the !more brutal quicky quality of the 50 minutes. The fast paced continuity and the speeded up editing reinforce the passage of time and enable the audience to see the difference between the two narratives. !

& 50 MINUTES
The soft, natural, daylight qualities of the lighting in Elderly Ladys story reflect the warmth and natural development of her relationship with her husband. In contrast, I felt the grainy quality of the teenagers tale portrayed the bleak reality and lovelessness of her casual sex and its grim repercussions. Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudis solo track I Giorni was made for this piece. The rises and falls in mood echo the narrative beautifully. They emphasise the Elderly Ladys journey through her relationship, until we are shown her visiting his grave at the end. The melody fluidly represents the highs and eventually low in her life, enabling the audience to truly create empathy for this lady (I have to admit, I did shed a tear). However this music also works exquisitely for the accelerated fictional scenes. Showing the recklessness of the teens choices and decisions in a nave and almost unknowing manner. Nevertheless, what ties everything together in this moving piece, is Tilleys sense of when and when not to use diaglogue. Juxtaposing the Elderly Ladys story against the complete lack of speech in the teenagers tale is one of the cleverest devices in the film. The Elderly Ladys story, told in full with rich anecdotes and memories, mirrors the way her relationship and subsequent marriage unfolded: thoughtfully, lovingly and with proper consideration. In contrast, the complete lack of dialogue in the teenagers tale told its own story: it revealed at the most basic level that the couple had no interest at all in getting to know each other: their relationship was to remain at the most basic, physical and animal level. ! !
Directed by: Grace Tilley Starring: Mary Rice, Eve Perry, Adam Jones Released: 3rd April 2014