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One Hour Photo

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By Emma Kae - 4th February 2003 - Back to News

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"These snapshots are their little stands against the flow of time" - Seymour Parrish

In a fleeting moment, have you ever wondered about the life of your mailman, bus driver or chemist? Perhaps not. Have you ever considered that those people who briefly touch your life, only to be forgotten, remember you?

One Hour Photo tells the story of Seymour ("See-More") Parrish (Robin Williams), the development technician at a suburban photo lab. Day after day, Seymour transforms pieces of film into happy memories of moments past.

A friendless, lonely man, Seymour paints the colours missing from his own life into portraits, envisioning himself within the frame and living his life vicariously through his customers.

The superficially ideal Yorkin ("Your Kin") family have been bringing their photos to Seymour for almost a decade. Unbeknown to the innocent relations, the quiet man has been making personal copies of the shots and plastering them to the walls of his empty, white home. Over the years, the lab technician persona disappears and is replaced by ‘Uncle Sy’ – invisible but ever present in their lives.

Although this sort of insinuation would usually be alarming, the film is taken from Seymour’s view, and so, when he lets himself into the Yorkins' home, grabs a beer and starts watching tv with the dog, the audience feels anxious that he is about to be found out. Somehow, the director (Mark Romanek) creates surprising sympathy for a disturbed individual, unlike the regular psycho movies portrayal of a madman. Compassion is built through our growing understanding that his "deviance" is premised on his dedication to a mainstream ideal - his desire to have what he believes everyone else has.

The exposure of imperfection occurs when Seymour becomes unable to differentiate between fantasy and reality. The role of voyeur no longer satisfies him, and he attempts to step into the role that was never his. Suddenly, Seymour is no longer a pathetic man behind the counter, but a dangerous figure that has come out of the shadows.

One Hour Photo offers fine performances, a nerve-permeating creepiness, and an abundance of clever visual, aural and reference illusions. Williams' performance as Seymour is amazing - controlled, unsettling and very scary.

After seeing this film, the next time you see the postie at your front door you will not be so quick to assume they will be delivering the mail…

One Hour Photo is now showing in a cinema near you.

Click here to see the current session times for your local cinema.

Click here to visit the official website.


Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com



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