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Elise: A Kirill Kripak Film
A review by Denis Logan.

Kirill Kripak, founder of Scope-films has collaborated on several projects, in the recent past, and when he premiered his "short-feature" at the Wreck Beach 2005 festival, I sat down and wrote the review.

Read on...

Elise: The Review

I was given the opportunity to be at the world premiere of Elise, Kirill Kripak’s first “serious” short, at the Wreck Beach Film Festival on the weekend. I had seen the movie in a previous draft and the new version included some re-cuts and all original scoring by Kirill himself.

Elise is a poor girl living with her younger sister and working at a diner to afford rent. Trey is a spoiled college student with rich parents who aspires to be a screenwriter. After literally bumping into each other, the two meet and begin a tumultuous relationship. Elise is intimidated by Trey’s wealth and becomes unable to get past her own insecurities, while Trey finds new inspiration in Elise’s struggle.

The movie goes back and forth between Trey and Elise, analyzing the fledgling relationship between two people from different cultures and finances. The resulting “Culture Clash” culminates into a stylistic, quirky drama from director Kirill Kripak.

After Kirill had done the score for my Toronto 48 Hour Film Challenge I told him, nay, begged him to re-score Elise himself; and the result is quite stunning. The music in Elise is one of the biggest assets it has- it directs the mood and flow, keeping the movie upbeat and setting down a bemusing mood. The last sequence in particular moves emotionally on the music, and builds a climax with precision and clarity.

The acting on the most part is quite natural. The leads, Sally and Danny, carry strong characters. Supporting them is a host of awkwardly funny characters which really contribute most of the humor in the film. The editing is quick and tight, allowing the story to flow quickly. The drama remains consistent throughout, and there are a few rather artistic devices which create some stunning visuals.

The characters unfortunately do not meet the resolution they deserve. Trey (played by Danny) dies in a car crash after revealing his screenplay ideas to Elise and consequently being dumped.

Although the sequence is quite well done, it is as if the movie runs out of gas and kills the character off in an attempt to end. The final scenes, however, justify this to some degree.

The tongue-in-cheek juxtaposition had been placed in the back of your mind in the introduction and mannerisms of the characters themselves, creating a very unique “twist”. Conventionally, these kinds of twists are uninspired, but Mr. Kripak manages a good job at taking the twist to the next level with a satirical ending. The self-consciousness of the ending actually helps to address earlier flaws in character development and plot, as well as adding a humorous undertone to the rest of the film. It also makes it more interesting to watch a second time- which is an admirable achievement. All said and done, Elise is a very pleasing film from up-and-coming director Kirill Kripak, showcasing prime Canadian talent. Elise has been entered in the Youngcuts festival in Toronto and is awaiting the selection process.

You can find more information about ELISE at the Scope-Films website.

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