Getting in Touch with Your Roots
Tree Offers a Creepy Tale
Keeping a story simple is the key to a good short film. If a director throws in too many twists and turns, audience members are likely to leave scratching their heads. In the short film, Tree, by newcomer Michael Steinbeck, the story of a man working the land is a simple one, but it has a touch of the macabre that makes it interesting.
Written by: Bill Elverman
Starring: Bill Elverman, Kate Berry, Avery Laine, and Jeff Garretson
Rated
Running time: 46 min.
FilmGuru's Rating : 7 out of 10.
In Tree, Tom (Bill Elverman) inherits the family farm when his wife's father dies. The old man left behind a journal of country wisdom about planting and running a farm, but Tom is put off by the "stories" that his father-in-law penned.
As Tom takes care of the daily chores, he begins to have flashes of foreboding when he chops wood beneath an old oak tree. Are these flashes some kind of ominous warning or merely the errant thoughts of a tired mind? Tom begins to think he might be overworked, but then his daughter Katie (Avery Laine) confesses to hearing the tree's stories too.
Steinbeck manages to emphasize the unwillingness of Tom to take on the responsibility of running a farm by capturing a bleak and dull routine. To be honest, the opening credits made me think I was watching a documentary about farming.
Surprisingly, Steinbeck is able to take a relatively simple story and keep it interesting for 45 minutes. This isn't to say that it doesn't have its problems. The story takes a strange twist when Tom has to rescue Katie from the river and everyone (wife included) stand around like vultures waiting for the kid to sink. I know what the scene was trying to convey, but I think it missed the mark.
Kudos to both Elverman and young Laine for outstanding performances. Either the casting was perfect or Steinbeck is a genius to get such high-level performances out of unknown actors.
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