Seat in Shadow
- Director: Henry Coombes
- Writer: David Sillars; Henry Coombes
- Producer: Deva Smith
CGiii Comment
Expect little and ye shall be rewarded...a two-week shooting time, a tiny budget...accompanied by a vibrant imagination, a febrile angst...and, the result is a calamitous, cacophonous crystallized gem of a film.
It suffers a little - in the beginning - from being over-written [Albert] and under-written [Ben]...but, when these two characters settle into their respective yings and yangs...fireworks explode and fly all over the place. Think: Demented Catherine Wheel and you'll get the idea!
It's a lysergic rollercoaster ride...with inspired moments of derailment. Sometimes it's necessary to take a sharp in-take of breath to cope with the madness. If fuel were laughter this film is a finely stoked furnace...
A Cheese-plant and a phenomenal phallus can't quite upstage the powerhouse performance - given with complete abandon - by David Sillars [Albert]. He lives, breathes and sweats his character...from inside out.
Given the constraints (time & money)...Seat in Shadow is a testament to talent.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Out of the imagination of acclaimed artist-filmmaker Henry Coombes comes Albert, an eccentric, aging painter doubling as an unconventional, Jung-inspired psychotherapist. When Albert’s friend asks him to counsel her lethargic grandson Ben, whose ongoing boyfriend problems are rapidly fueling an already deep depression, their subsequent therapy sessions reveal as much about Albert as they do about the troubled young man. Coombes’ debut feature is a witty, perceptive study of social mores, sexual excess and the bizarre, symbiotic relationship between doctor and patient; teacher and pupil; artist and muse.
Cast & Characters
Henry Coombesas Petulia;
Ross Hunter as Rossy;
Jonathan Leslie as Ben;
Marcella Mclntosh as Granny;
Jo McQuaid as Ginger Jo;
Lee Partridge as Adam;
Gordon Robertson as Gordon;
Mathew Scott as Matty;
David Sillars as Albert;
Joe Venters as Joe;
Robert Williamson as Bouncer