Time Bleeds (2013) User Reviews

Should be shown in every secondary school.

[dennishurleston · 8/10 · 5 April 2013]

Went to the premiere of this last night in an unheated disused factory - completely fitting venue for a film that grabs you and chills you with the challenge of its premise. Astonishing performances from local adolescents who, along with the rest of the cast didn't know how the story was going to unfurl, and whose emotional responses to a war thats passed from living memory, are achingly poignant. The faces of the youthful firing squad linger in the memory. A great achievement for all concerned. A special mention for the sound and music. And some of the images are so striking - the farewell between mother and son against the backdrop of a red brick wall, the nurses standing like sentinels on a Folkestone beach, and those faces of the firing squad. Stunning

This really should be shown in all secondary schools as the anniversary of the outbreak of WWI approaches.

A Fifteen Minute Masterpiece

[robshivgreen · 10/10 · 20 April 2013]

I attended the premiere showing of a new documentary-come-drama short film by the Kent-based film company Viola Films called Time Bleeds, directed by Sam Supple and produced by Debra Magee.The film poses the question "what happens if we forget?" and examines the consequences of the horrors of World War One passing from living memory into history.

Told in a series of scenes depicting the story of a 16-year-old-boy leaving his mother to fight in the trenches, only to be shot for cowardice, interspersed with filmed interviews with the young actors involved in making the film, and footage of the acting workshops, Time Bleeds presents an all-too-real account of what will happen if we allow ourselves to make the same mistakes again.

The film was a masterpiece, and in just 15 short minutes entertained, educated and moved the packed audience in the Strange Cargo Factory workshop space in Cheriton. I was particularly moved by the performances of the lead actors, Karol Steele and Nick Young as Mother and Son. Their final goodbye, filmed on the abandoned Harbour Railway Station (where thousands of young soldiers left for The Front during the war) was heart-wrenching to watch, and felt very real - especially when the CGI'd steam train whistled passed. No histrionics, no floods of tears, just raw the emotions of love and fear, that the audience felt as well as the actors.

This was matched by the performances of the young lads playing the firing squad - the looks of terror and sorrow on their faces as they shot their comrade only added to the horrifying and harrowing experience of watching young Nick being shot through the head by his Sergeant - an event that happened all too often during the war.

Everything about the film, from the dramatic historical sequences, the modern versions of WW1 propaganda posters, the actors reactions during the workshops, the frightening lack of knowledge about the war exhibited by the youngsters during their interviews, to the glimpse of the future where White Feather TV will shame people into to joining up, worked perfectly, and definitely answered the question, "what happens if we forget?" The team behind this film are hoping to raise funding for a longer version, and I for one am hoping that they are successful, as I feel that given the resources they will make a film that will become a classic, and a worthy memorial to all those who died nearly 100 years ago.