Fantasia 2022: ‘A Life on the Farm’ Review
Stars: Derrick Beckles, Oscar Harding, Karen Kilgariff, Joe Pickett, Nick Prueher | Directed by Oscar Harding
Every now and then a movie comes along that feels like it is made for just me. A Life on the Farm ticks all of those boxes and is one of those films that I know if I talk about to any of my friends about they won’t quite understand what I’m talking about and why I am so enthusiastic about it. A Life on the Farm is definitely a movie you need to see to believe.
In simple terms, this found footage/documentary movie follows the life of farmer Charles Carson in the late 1990s, who often filmed and took photos of himself, his family and his animals. This footage was then edited by Charles and often hand-delivered to his neighbours so he could get their thoughts on the films he had made. The films though were all but forgotten except by one filmmaker (director of A Life on the Farm, Oscar Harding) who saw one of the videos as a child and now had the urge to re-watch its bizarreness as an adult. Luckily his parents still had their copy.
What happens next is extraordinary footage and comments from the people in Charles Carson’s life, as well as fans of VHS tapes – people like the organises of Found Footage Festival. Carson’s footage ranges from interesting to humorous to bizarre to truly heart-warming and everything in between. You will not believe your eyes at the pictures and videos with his mother! And although there is plenty to laugh at here, there are many more serious and touching issues in the movie.
Charles Carson is someone, although he clearly enjoyed working on the farm, maybe would not have chosen that path if he didn’t take over it from his parents. He’s clearly an entertainer at heart and loves creating movies. The effort and skill going into both filming and editing these movies is clear to see. You feel like he would have loved the Internet era, where even as an old man he would have been either making short clips on social media or just getting his movies to a much wider audience. That said, there is something about the old-school editing and VHS quality of these originals and people who grew up with VHS will no doubt appreciate it.
Looking even deeper into A Life on the Farm and this is a story about how one man deals with death when he is kind of, all alone. I think his filming almost becomes like therapy to him and it’s interesting to see on the tapes how everything affects him and his life. There is one final twist in the tale though you can’t help but smile at. But the whole movie will honestly make you happy. Carson’s charisma and joy is contagious.
A Life on the Farm’s appeal is wide and I hope it finds an audience that Charles Carson deserves. If you love VHS tapes and found footage this is for you. Did you ever enjoyed making and editing your own videos in the nineties? You’ll love this too. A fan of documentaries that will make you smile from ear to ear? Who isn’t! This is my favourite film of 2022 so far. A truly fascinating, one-of-a-kind and heart-warming documentary.
***** 5/5
A Life on the Farm screened as part of this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival.
