My America Bellagio (2012) Online

As I often prove with my rambling displays, it is not as easy as it looks to tell a story; okay anyone can tell a story about something that happened to them and how they felt, but to tell it in a way that works on many levels but still flows like a natural thing that is occurring to you as you go is not so easy. I mention this because in this film I found that relevant because this is a story that feels natural and personal but is also well written to deliver more than just events but rather experience, feelings and context. It runs longer than the other films in the series thus far, coming in at 14 minutes long, but yet it can carry that in a way that some others may not have been able to (although in fairness, they were not written to). It tells the story of an African-American woman who has long since struggled with self and identity, and in particular relates a time when she perhaps didn't.

It is a story that more or less justifies the longer running time, because it is well constructed in how it is written, so that the events do not drive it even though they are the majority of it. The character is laid out early and from there we feel comfortable with her to walk through her feelings with her during specific events, which in turn lead us to where she begins and ends the film. It is nicely done and it is particularly well played out by Caldwell (well known for many things but perhaps Lost most recently). Her performance catches the words well and presents them in a convincing and realistic fashion, so that they work better than they would have done were it not so.

Understandably given the length, the film does not follow the trend of some others to be in one take. This is fine but I was not sure about the fade-to-black edits; not a big deal for most people I would guess but for me the fade was the same as that which happens when my laptop dims the screen before later sleeping – so it did break me out of the film albeit in a way I guess will not affect everyone. I did like the way that the fades allowed the sound to work though and the editing of dialogue was very well done; it continued over the darkness and came back in before the picture so it felt like one performance even if it was in segments. I'm not sure if it was deliberate or not, but I also liked Caldwell's positioning within the frame – sometimes very cropped and off to one side, others central and clear; it had the potential to look messy but actually I liked it as an effect.

Generally though the technical aspects are to one side since the real thing here is that the writing and its delivery makes the character and the film work so well.