‘Waking Slowly’ Review
About a year ago, I was chatting to a couple of filmmakers about director Joseph Millson and his upcoming showing of Signs of Life at the Romford Film Festival. We all agreed that for a directorial debut feature, this was a prime example of independent low-budget filmmaking at its absolute best.
They clued me into the fact that BAFTA-winning documentary filmmaker Andrew Smith had been following the production and intended to make a piece about Joseph’s film journey from consistently jobbing actor to leaping into directing. The doc had started with the trials and tribulations of low-budget film, but inadvertently found a somewhat deeper, more introspective human interest story at the heart of it all. Art was imitating life as this auteur was pouring his soul and some life experiences into this movie that was about the kindness of strangers and the ability to listen. However, what Andrew Smith would find was that life was imitating art in a number of ways.
Waking Slowly captures and chronicles the making of a truly beautiful film by an amazing, passionate cast and crew at a point in their lives they may not have seen coming. Starting off the doc with our director, Joseph, walking us through where Signs of Life came from. A vivid recollection of a dream that would spiritually tie in to the two earlier shorts (Care and The Magician) he and his actress/director wife, Sarah Jane-Potts, had created and directed. A short while and a gruelling crowdfunding campaign later and our team were off to the races. What became apparent during filming was that our director was finding his love of filmmaking all over again, as our lead actress had decided she was maybe done with the art of film, and this performance was a love letter to her husband as she was preparing to course correct.
The strength of Waking Slowly lies in director Andrew Smiths uncanny ability to sit back and capture nuanced moments that at first seem to be basic and mundane moments of prep, rehearsal or moments of film makers simply making films but if your willing to stop and think about what your seeing for as long as the camera lingers on the moment, you can see the signs of what was to come. One moment in particular, early on for me as a viewer, was the one and only read-through and rehearsal with cast and crew. Sarah Jane Potts is obviously not saying much as her character doesn’t have dialogue, but this is a moment where I personally thought so much is written across her face, the camera focuses on her a few times, and it’s right there. I love this moment as a viewer because it’s the first of a few scenes where you can pick up on how this actress is feeling about her craft and the possible finality of this performance in her acting career. Juxtaposed with the excitement of the Tigger-like Millson. There are loads of moments like that scattered throughout with our filmmakers, and Smith beautifully captures and edits this piece to perfection for maximum audience realisation.
That is where Smith crafts the narrative and is able to chop and change through scenes that connect to the wider story of everyone involved. At times, I suspect without his subjects ever really knowing, there is nothing intrusive or salacious about what Smith is doing; he just has a really dialled-in ability to recognise and capture the real version of the moment within a moment. That’s what makes Waking Slowly so beautiful and a true reflection of the difference between 300 people within 14 different departments on a soulless blockbuster and 10 humans working as a solid, passionate team on a micro-budget indie gem that has the potential to change your worldview.
Again, Smith is our window into this world, and while on the face of it production is going smoothly and we are creating this wonderful piece, there are little moments of ‘what am I not being told’. This is where the director shows just how brilliant he is too, because at no point do we think we are watching a disaster like Lost in La Mancha; we are shown a group of people who have come together, no matter where they are in life, to create something special, and that is the biggest takeaway from this documentary.
Waking Slowly is a beautiful companion piece to Signs of Life, a doc that echoes the sentiment of the movie wholeheartedly, and you have to respect the extent to which Millson, Sarah Jane and the rest of the team were willing to put themselves out there for the project.
I’m not going to put a rating down on the doc because that just seems a tad weird for a Documentary. However, should you have the chance to see Waking Slowly, I strongly recommend you absolutely do; if you saw Signs of Life and loved it, then this is for you. A real story behind the story that adds so many layers to the story. I bloody loved what Andrew Smith was all over this project. Millson and his crew should be damn proud of Signs of Life and prouder of the way this doc shows their story, even if it does air on the more personal side. Filmmaking is not easy, but when done for all the right reasons, it ends up being truly beautiful.
Watch Waking Slowly, watch Signs of Life and support indie cinema in all its glory!
