STARRING BRIAN LEA, JANIS LEA, MARC MILES THOMAS, BOSUN THE DOG AND SYLVIA THE CAT.
REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
'Nothing ever happens on a Sunday...'
Well, nothing ever bloomin' does, does it? The tagline to this beautiful short sci-fi film is absolutely flippin' spot-on. You've had all the excitement of Saturday night, and now it's Sunday and you've got to iron your shirts (or whatever) for the working week ahead which you know will re-define the word 'tedium' for you yet again.
Sundays suck. Even the STRICTLY COME DANCING and X FACTOR results shows can't salvage this dreary piss-pot of a day. Oooops. Didn't mean to sound so bitter there, haha. I just really, really hate Sundays. I wonder if writer/director David Lea hates 'em too?
Anyway, the action in the six-minute film under discussion takes place- you guessed it- on a Sunday. It's Sunday the twenty-eighth of April, to be exact, and in a rather isolated, windswept area of Cornwall, an elderly man is preparing to take his dog, a gorgeous golden Labrador called Bosun, to the cliffs for a bit of a walk. Anything to break up the monotony, eh, Pops?
There's nothing strange or different about this particular Sunday (I told you already, there never is!) except that the weather-man on the radio has forecast a bit of an old squall. In fact, by the time the old man and his mutt reach the cliff-side, it's a wee bit wild and these amazing lights, the first sign that there's anything amiss on this particular Sunday, can be seen glinting stunningly on the waves.
What happens next has to be seen to be believed. I can't tell you what it is (well, I could, but this week I'm only putting spoilers in every third review) but it's so extraordinary and out-of-this-world (major clue there in lieu of actual spoiler!) that it causes Bosun the dog to turn tail and run and the old man to drop his pipe in shock.
And old men don't drop their pipes lightly, I'll have you know. They hold onto those old briary sticks like a desperate single woman to her last fading hopes of being married by the time she's forty, heh-heh-heh. And that's pretty damn tightly, let me tell you.
Later, back in his armchair (the place where we started out), in his lovely old house filled with old family photos and memorabilia, the old man sits and reflects on what he's seen. He's still in shock, of course. Who wouldn't be, after what he's seen?
But when a slow, easy grin spreads like fresh creamery butter across the old man's face, it's clear he's decided that this particular Sunday has had a bit more going for it than your average last-day-of-the-week (I hate when people call it the first day of the week, are they morons or what? It's clearly the last day!) and he's happy about that.
This is such a gorgeous, beautifully-shot little film. It was a labour of love for the director as well, which makes the whole project even nicer and worthy of all the support it can get.
Not only did professional animator David Lea do pretty much everything himself as regards the film-making process, he made his dear old Dad the star of the movie to thank him for a really whopper spaceship bed he made for David when David was six. That's such a lovely story. It makes me want to sniffle a little bit. And I jolly well would as well but, well, you know, the Botox...
I'm pretty sure that that's David's mum in the kitchen there as well, and I'm guessing that Bosun the dog and Sylvia the cat are treasured Lea family pets too.
This exquisite little short sci-fi film is dedicated to the memory of Bosun, who has obviously passed on to what we know from THE SIMPSONS to be 'Doggie Heaven,' a wonderful place where you can't turn around without sniffing another dog's butt and presumably there are rabbits galore there for the chasing as well. Chase 'em all you want, Bosun old boy. After your remarkable performance in 'ON SUNDAY,' you've surely earned that right.
The film will be hitting the festival circuit and all the usual outlets, I would imagine, and I'd advise you to see it if you can at all. It's magical. And anything that livens up Sunday, that stinking cesspool of monotony and never-ending dreariness (don't get me started!), is all right in my book.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO
You can contact Sandra at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
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