YOU ARE NOT ALONE

Directed by Blaine Allen.

You Are Not Alone is a short film, a parody of the film noir, written, produced, directed and edited by Blaine Allan, a lecturer in Canada. He takes the detective story and presents the plot from the point of view of the missing person. The film is enigmatic, puzzling with vague connections and loose ends.

The important characteristic of the film is its cinematic style consisting especially of long static images, full of pregnant pauses with audiences being asked to supply their response. The dialogue is minimal, yet there is a continuous stream of voices and conversations, radios, passers-by, poetry, homespun advice, poignant and profound comments about humanity. This makes the film particularly demanding - while we see the detective and see him at work, as well as his client, the wife of the missing man, the film expects its audience to know something about the private eye film and supply the missing pieces. However, as a journey across America, especially through Texas and Tennessee (even to Graceland) the film is a look at the United States.

1.The impact of the film? Content and style?

2.The Canadian perspective on the United States? The range of locations, the ordinary towns, the countryside, the open spaces? The impact of the long static takes? Audience reaction and supplying response to these takes? Seeing and not seeing? The amount of material heard? Audience supplying the plot details and the response?

3.The detective, the interviews, the phone calls? Audiences understanding his perspective and his work? The wife, the interviews, her quest? The contacts by her husband? The missing husband, an enigmatic character, his location? The young girl, her presence, interaction with the detective? The incidental characters seen along the American road?

4.The theme of quest and search? The private eye tracking down the missing person, picking up clues?

5.The film-maker's observation of the American countryside, of ordinary American people and their daily routines in the towns, the diners, on the roads? The attention to detail?

6.The cumulative effect of this kind of cinematic experience, the demands of the style, the absence of much of the plot, the linear development? A cinematic experience?