-Written by Kyle Bain.
When a band has fallen flat, struggled to find their way, inspiration, or the ability to create riveting music they head to a French castle, hoping to work with a highly-successful producer. When they arrive they find that there’s far more working against them. Art of a Hit explores the mental and emotional struggles that come with developing music–and it explores some of the deepest, darkest caverns of the human psyche.
Writer-Director Gaelan Connell and Director of Photography Joe Simon make some really strange decisions in regard to the cinematography. Sometimes they decide to use lens flares to distort the faces of the band members, other times it appears that they used a petzval lens, where the edges of the frame become slightly distorted and curved. I can’t really understand either decision, as they don’t appear to add anything to the film. Art of a Hit is meant to be a bit artsy, but I don’t think it needs these things in order to propel it forward.
There are glimpses of something supernatural or occult lurking in the background of this film, that it’s possible that something outself of the realm of normalcy is plaguing these artists, stopping them from being successful. However, the deeper into the film we go, the more it seems that there’s nothing out of the ordinary going on, but rather the minds of the characters are wandering astray. Art of a Hit explores the mental and emotional states of everyone in this film, and I love that it doesn’t extend itself beyond earthly things, that it doesn’t cross a line. This helps it retain its accessibility, allowing it to remain relevant to viewers throughout.
What Connell does particularly well is use some supernatural elements to explore the human mind. Again, I don’t feel that anything supernatural ever actually happens, but Connell and Co-Writer Charlie Saxton use the supernatural as plot devices that propel the film forward, invite viewers in, and ultimately make the film wonderfully successful.
It’s the team’s ability to go almost too far without overstepping that allows Art of a Hit to find success. I hate when a film is so emotionally relevant, and then it manages to screw everything up by introducing something otherworldly. At that point it’s gone too far, it’s ruined the genuine connection between story and viewer, and oftentimes it’s hard for a film to regain its footing after a blunder like that. Art of a Hit walks a fine line between going too far and not going quite far enough, and it truly finds an impeccable balance. I think that this film is a splendid take on human emotion and mental health. It’s full of vivid expression that does trip itself up a bit with the cinematography, but it’s ultimately successful in expressing its purpose and remaining accessible from start to finish.
Directed by Gaelan Connell.
Written by Gaelan Connell & Charlie Saxton.
Starring Ryan Donowho, Charlie Saxton, Tim Jo, Rob Raco, James Earl, Allie MacDonald, etc.
8/10 = WORTH RENTING OR BUYING
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