A Short Film About Guilt

Another in the "Don't Do Stupid Things Abroad" series, this grim, grey Northern PIF features a man walking through a desolate landscape of steam and despair, constantly going over the events that lead him to ruin his family forever. It's a bit like Bronski Beat's Smalltown Boy video, but with thuggery in place of homosexuality.

Apart from that it's quite an interesting throwback to the days when PIFs didn't need to display a single word on screen at any point. Even the closing VO - the normally friendly Gary Watson at his angriest - seems like a grudging sop to whatever people might not have got the message. Its abruptness and conciseness suggest that it was slapped on the last few seconds at the last minute, and the PIF was originally going to just stop. No words, no logo, no slogan, nothing to tie it in with a specific scheme, or even a specific government department. Just the inscrutable power of Your Superiors. And it's shot on film. The one and only flourish is the Expressionistic, Blade Runner-esque closing shot.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Advert
• Commercial
• Public
• Information
• Service
• Film
• Announcement
• Holiday
• Misery
• Despair
• Prison
• Ken
• Loach
• Hell
• short film
• sad
• human
• spot
• nonprofit

[disjoinedchip2]

brits never learn when they go abroad. perhaps these films should have been shown on primetime not at 4am.