Cashback

Sean Ellis’ film Cashback takes cues from some of the best films of the past 10 years; there are elements of American Beauty, Go and the French film Jeux d’enfants in this finely crafted love story. Ben Willis, an art school student, is trying to find a way to while away the wee small hours of the morning, having become an insomniac after he and his girlfriend Suzy broke up.

Due to his insomnia, he decides to take up a night-shift job at a local supermarket. His artistic ability, when combined with sleep deprivation, leads to his discovery of an ability he never knew he had: Ben is somehow able to manipulate time. He can pause time, but he himself remains able to move around and interact with people, excluding himself from the ‘freezing’ process. You may think at this point that the filmmakers have introduced a silly supernatural aspect to the story; in some respects, this is true. But this narrative element serves merely to enhance the artistic nature of the film: what it lacks in any kind of meaty plot, it makes up for in spectacular visual effects. Although it’s based on a short film of the same name, I imagine that the changes between the original short and this have something to do with the influence of films like Jeux d’enfants, particularly in terms of visual style.

Here’s the first ten minutes — with French subtitles, for some reason — courtesy of some dude on YouTube.

~ by Hugh on September 4, 2007.