James G Wall (A Tiny Adventure) documents love, life and romance in an unapologetic way only an indie film could.
Love, life and romance are often featured, but rarely exposed in our mainstream, Hollywoodized picture houses. Directors too frequently place the microscope on life without revealing the cracks; mixing the icing sugar without baking the cake, if you like. But this popularized approach of re-hashing the same principles is precisely why our cinemas are backlogged with identical films presented in different packaging, which is why James G Wall’s refreshingly truthful and unapologetic take on romance is so poignant.
Indie films document life in a way mainstream movies never could. Forget escapism or detachment, independent producers are liberated to say what they wish about real issues, resulting in an end product which is barefaced in its approach and completely honest in its delivery. But not to muddle adjectives, Wall’s take on romance is truthful for good and for bad. It is bleak at times and happy at others. He manages to show love at its excitable best and its painful worst as we learn that the truth about romance is that there is no truth.
Wall’s first feature film, filmed over two weeks in July last year on a budget of under £200, follows the lives of two friends who are both victims of romance in completely separate ways. Josh, played by Jordan Greenhough, is the protagonist in search of love and in search of a direction in life. Chris (Craig Asquith) is trapped in love, looking to his friend to escape the mundane routineness that has engulfed his long-term relationship.
The two friends converse about their parallel universes, arching back to the old adage that in love, as in life, the grass is always greener on the other side. A chance meeting with Emily, beautifully portrayed by Danielle Jackson, and her subsequent house party irreparably alter their lives, and in doing so, send them on a journey of boyish discovery, which is truthful and relevant to us all.
The film is primarily based on the relationship between Josh and Emily, but her chance appearance and the lack of a physical relationship suggests that Emily isn’t the love he is looking for. Rather, she is his guardian angel, helping him to discover his own personality and, in doing so, a new direction in life. She carries with her the film’s important undertones on the importance of adventure, confidence, ambition and more, and encompasses many personal aspects of the director himself, encapsulated in a care-free and enchanting character.
As Jacko Hopper’s solemn music cuts through the narrative, Josh learns crucial life teachings through love, rather than in love. Emily’s enthusiasm and passion for adventure picks him from a lull that has forced him to accept life for what it is, rather than what he wants it to be, pushing him to try new things and challenge himself to live an alternate existence.
As Wall looks to pick apart the truth of romance, he subconsciously does much more by demonstrating its impact on life. His experienced cinematography combines with a well crafted portrayal of what happens when personalities collide in what we have come to know as romance. It is honest, it is brave, and it is a five star attempt at a (not so) tiny adventure.
By Jack Peat
The Truth About Romance can be seen in its entirety, for free, here
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