God’s Little Girl

“God’s Little Girl” was the short film that played before the feature presentation of “Alone” at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival last night. Director Mitch Davis is also a the Programmer for the Fantasia Film Fest and his knowledge of film is evident in this short. We are introduced to a woman who has lost her child after only one year. The baby’s heart just stopped beating. The entire film is told through the perspective of the the woman, who narrates her own story. This is one of those films that threw me a little bit as it was very different from the rest of the films I have seen in the fest so far.

There was a certain air of sophisticated story-telling that moved me to really consider each of the words being spoken by this sad woman. As I listened to her speak I began to understand that within this film is a mystery that needs to be solved and we are not presented with any clear answers as to whether we may be right or wrong in our suppositions. Each scene was played out as a tableau that teased our brains to put together what we saw.

I was semi-bothered by what I considered to be dull at first, but after much discussion with B.W.E. we decided it ran much deeper than it appeared. Had she gone mad? Is she a vampire? Who knows? I couldn’t help but think of last year’s “Eyes of Edward James” (no Olmos) by Rue Morgue Icon Rodrigo Gudino, the tone and pace was very similar. Although I was never scared, the mood was relentlessly sad and mysterious as we took this journey with the narrator.

I ended up really enjoying the story but was a little annoyed by the monotone presentation of the voice of the narrator, which, all things considered, is a pretty minor complaint considering her apparent state of mind. I look forward to what else Mitch Davis comes out with in the future as he is definitely a filmmaker to watch.

 

The crowd for the evening

For more photos, check out our Picasa page.