Late by Keith Sargent
An author-made videopoem by the creative director of the British design company immprint. It was nominated for best editing at the Liberated Words Poetry Film Festival 2014. Keith Sargent gave this background:
My father was dying of cancer, I was in London and he was in Kent, a 45 mile distance; this would normally take one and a half hours. On the 8th of August at 8.30 a.m. I received a call from my Mum who passed the phone to my Dad, he said “I love you. Night, night.” At 10 a.m. I received a call from his nurse saying he was very close (to dying). I set off. I arrived at 1.15. I was late. He had gone. I held his still warm hand (Mum had wrapped him in duvet to keep his body warm). I missed him. I miss him.
Liberated Words’ Vimeo upload description goes on to say:
Keith Sargent is creative director of multi-disciplinary design company immprint ltd and has worked as an educator, illustrator, filmmaker and graphic designer since graduating from the RCA in 1988. His films have been commissioned for commercial projects and screened at Bath Mix, Zebra, Athens and Visible Verse poetry film festivals.
director / scriptwriter / editor / music: Keith Sargent
cast: Keith Sargent, Stan Sargent, Rebecca Sargent, Stanley Sargent
Since my friend Rachel Rawlins saw this film at Liberated Words’ March 5 screening at The Little Theatre in Bath and really liked it, I asked her if she’d be willing to write a short review. We don’t get to hear very often from fans of poetry film who are neither poets nor filmmakers. Here’s what she sent along:
I love the way this video poem manages in a deceptively simple way to juxtapose so many of the profound dualities around life and death. There’s the physical rootedness of warmth and cold as well as our subjective experience of time, both forwards and backwards. The soundtrack and film unite to give a sense of slow, almost underwater/otherworldliness whilst narrating an experience of considerable tension and stress where the need for speed is central. The use of text on the screen is something I often have great difficulty with (perhaps as a result of a dyslexia-like inability to process letters easily) but its use here—slow, deliberate and carefully planted within the physical visual environment of the film—really works for me. I find the overall experience utterly immersive.
What I don’t like (and actually makes my toes curl) is the addition, one by one, of crosses above the heads of the three adults in the family photograph. I’m happy there wasn’t the usual slow focusing in on the child’s face or suchlike but I feel there’s no need to use any device to underscore the fact that he’s the last one left. We’ve already been told that.
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Dave Bonta is a poet, editor, and web publisher from the Appalachian mountains of central Pennsylvania.
please remove the comments as they put off viewers and stick around like sour smells. This piece is obviously very personal and having glib reviews is an incredible insult. This device is what is used on photographs when people die in many cultures. it is a truth not an affect like the “usual slow focus”. Maybe this self proclaimed dyslexic who has problems with moving image should not be given a voice. Please either remove the comments or remove the video.
What I don’t like (and actually makes my toes curl) is the addition, one by one, of crosses above the heads of the three adults in the family photograph. I’m happy there wasn’t the usual slow focusing in on the child’s face or suchlike but I feel there’s no need to use any device to underscore the fact that he’s the last one left. We’ve already been told that.
thank you
Keith Sargent
Hi Keith, Moving Poems is a blog. I’m sorry you’re offended by a mild criticism in an otherwise highly complimentary review, but no, I’m not going to remove it. I think this kind of criticism is valuable, especially since most of the time my own perspective is the dominant voice here; diversity is good. Your suggestion that a dyslexic person’s reaction is somehow unworthy of consideration is stunning. At any rate, you’ve registered your objections, and now readers can weigh that, as well. If you object to your video appearing here, you’re welcome to change the embedding permissions in Vimeo so that’s no longer possible, and it will disappear from this post (though I’ll keep the post up for archival purposes). Many filmmakers restrict their films from being embedded on any site precisely so they can control what’s said about them. To each their own.
Dear Dave
Thank you for your response: I totally agree. I do not agree with the comments made by “Keith Sargent” and I would have taken the video down if I was offended. The review as you said was very complimentary. The dyslexic comment is totally wrong and does not reflect my views at all.
I have no record of this being sent to you and have only seen this now, today. I used to work in a shared studio (studio closed in 2015-2016) and can only think it was posted by another member of the studio. The studio is no longer running and I can only apologise for the comments above.
I was doing a search for this year’s zebra film festival and came across this post.
all the best
Keith Sargent
(real)