The powerful imagery of the opening of Luke Seomore and Joseph Bull’s Blood Cells sure packs a punch. It deftly sets the tone for what is to be a road movie of one man battling his demons.
Adam (Barry Ward) fled his family farm after the 2001 foot-and-mouth epidemic and we join him about fifteen years later, living on the fringe of society. His lack of permanent residence and job is suggested rather than explicitly laid out, but his desperation is evident through his encounters with others. Struggling in a self-imposed exile, Adam faces an ultimatum from his brother, who is expecting his first child, and wants him to return home to meet his new nephew. Adam journeys across Britain and we are treated to impressive scenic shots of dusk and sunrises along his route.
Blood Cells is gritty like the best of British cinema. The filmmakers have a background in social documentaries and some of the actors were street cast. Barry Ward gives an authentic performance as Adam, capturing his isolation and appearing in every scene. Despite this, Adam doesn’t feel like a full character; we never see his emotional side and therefore it’s difficult to emotionally invest in him and his plight. Even when he is alone, we don’t really see how his circumstances have affected him.
Adam is clearly haunted by flashbacks through reoccurring images and his reasons for leaving home are slowly exposed. These images are set to a moving soundtrack (also by Seomore); the strings effectively underpinning the anguish that we assume Adam must feel. The filmmakers are also not afraid of silence; we follow Adam for several scenes, watching his moments without dialogue. It was clearly intentional to jump forward from the opening images of the family into Adam’s future, but more about his time of exile could have given depth to the character, as this is never revisited.
Blood Cells successfully explores the personal impact of a national emergency. However, it gives scant background of the issue and non-British audiences could struggle with this lack of context. The film is ambitious and has been rewarded by being the only British project ever to be selected by Biennale College: Cinema. It is accomplished debut for the pair, but for me, the film sadly fell short of following through on its powerful opening and premise.
Blood Cells shows at Broadway on Saturday 1 August 2015 at 6pm with a director's Q&A
Blood Cells Official Site
Lucy Pickering Twitter
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