TWO YEARS AT SEA
Ben Rivers UK /2011/ 16mm / 88mins
A poetic portrait of a man called Jake who lives in the middle of a forest. Shot in a 16mm black-and-white anamorphic film format that feels at once tactile and evanescent, this amazing film won the FIPRESCI Prize at Venice Film Festival in 2011.
The daily life we see is both mundane and mysterious. Jake is an eccentric and intriguing presence with a tremendous sense of purpose, We see his possessions – junk, LPs and weathered snapshots, we move with him through varying shades of light and darkness, in a car, a raft and a campervan. His motives and means remain as cloudy as the overcast sky.
He is seen in all seasons, surviving frugally, passing the time with strange projects, living the radical dream he had as a younger man, a dream he spent two years working at sea to realize.
This witty and gracefully constructed film creates an intimate connection with an individual who would otherwise be a complete outsider.
Greg Pope. 