The Sonnet Project Sonnet #61 (2013– ) Online

Sonnet 61 started out to my eye as being a bit romantic – perhaps poetic pain caused by their love being far away; however it soon has a few barbs and lines in there that make it clear that actually it is more jealousy that is behind a lot of the sonnet. This film takes that and runs with it, placing it at night by a lighthouse. The delivery of the short is one build on a base of dramatic music, dramatic cuts and fades, and a dramatic lead performance. For me it was perhaps a bit overly dramatic but perhaps this was only because it took me of guard compared to the much softer film of sonnet #10.

The sharp image and style suits the sonnet though and I appreciated the energy of it throughout. Donshik delivers very strongly to the camera, with real passion and pain in his words; in particular his delivery helped me understand the meaning of the final lines better than I had when I had read it for myself. It is a strong film with good ol' Shakespearean delivery direct to camera but enough going on around it with music, location, atmosphere to make it add to the material in the way that one would hope.