Velton Lishke Films: Written Review

Velton Lishke Films

Written Review

Hi everyone, and welcome to MyIndie Review Vlog, The show that gives you spoiler-free reviews of indie films. My Name is Asaf Angel from MyIndie Productions, and today’s review is of two short films from MyIndie featured artist, UK indie filmmaker and actor Velton Lishke.

Thank you, Velton, for sharing your work with us.

Let’s jump right to it!

Film number one, the 2016 short thriller The Happiness Of Larry.

Larry, portrayed by Velton Lishke himself, is known around the neighbourhood as somewhat of an odd fellow who keeps to himself. Sporting a limp and assisted with a cane, Larry carries himself about town, collecting various trash items from the street that seem to strike an interest with him. A discarded soda can, a shoe. Despite Larry’s handicap, we see him live in a meticulously neat home, while he also gives close attention to the specific order of the items in his home and around his personal space.

Most of his neighbours dismiss him as a weirdo and don’t think anything of him or ponder on who he is and what troubles him, enough that he seems to constantly wear a glum appearance.

Things take a terrible turn for the worse when a little girl from the neighbourhood turns up missing, as her angry and worried family immediately look at Larry as the culprit.

Defenseless and frightened by the frenzied group, Larry desperately insists on his innocence, but it falls on deaf ears, as the little girl’s family completely lose their demeanor and commence physically assaulting him while he is too weak to defend himself.

Rooted in social commentary on the familiar scenario of ignorant prejudice regarding how fast people abandon their moral ideals and common sense in the face of possible terror, The Happiness Of Larry is a story that feels designed to get under our skin, and whether we notice it or not; test us. What would you do in these particular circumstances? Can you trust yourself enough to not let your emotions lead you in a situation that crucially depends on your ability to use your head?

Velton wisely built this story with dissonance between how we, the viewers, experience the film, and how we might judge the situation if we encountered it in real life. It goes to show what a storyteller can do. No matter how eccentric the character is, as viewers we will always be most invested in the underdog.

To sum up, despite parts of the film that felt a tad long and some very few shots that seemed to miss the mark a little, this is a well performed project that most of all, shows Velton’s abilities as storyteller and an actor. As both the director and lead, I can only imagine how hard the production must have been.

Production value is well above average. Cinematography is excellent and the performances were decent.

The Happiness Of Larry gets a 7.5/10 on the Look At Me, I’m A Film Critic scale!

The film is available for viewing on AngeMan Distribution’s VOD channel. Link at top of page!

Film number two: The 2016 short thriller Double 7 Six.

Tommo, portrayed by Rob Leach is a sweet kid in the prime of his life. We see him first having a good time with his boys at a local bar, where Taylor, a young woman played by Samantha L Daniels takes notice of him and slips him her number on a piece of paper.

Excited and flattered, Tommo inevitably gets teased by his boys, as they steal the piece of paper from him and pass it around between them to his embarrassment and their amusement.

One of the boys takes advantage of Tommo’s distraction and changes a digit on the paper as a prank before handing it back. [pause] To me, this act seemed evil and uncalled for. That is a crappy friend right there, to try to purposely ruin a friend’s chance at happiness.

Anyway, later that day, Tommo musters up the courage to call Taylor, but ends up connecting with the wrong type of people. As the tone violently shifts, Tommo’s concerns radically change from “Excited to possibly start something with a girl” to “How the hell am I going to make it out of this alive?!”

Velton describes two different worlds in this story. It almost looks like two different films, they’re even lit differently from one another. The beginning seems a cheerful story about young lads loving life, and then a turn which takes a peek at the dark grim reality of organized crime.

Velton’s plotline leads those two worlds to collide in an interesting way that pretty much respects the logic of the real world.

There is a well thought out chain of events which allows the plot to progress in a logical manner. Velton seems very aware of how to create the right circumstances to propel the story. There are several key moments in the film that explain exactly how things turned out the way they did in a very convincing way.

With similarity to a mix between Martin Scorsese’s dark mob films and Guy Ritchie’s rhythm and style, Velton and his team managed to bring a gut-wrenching gem to the screen and clearly show that their storytelling abilities are evolving at a fast pace.

Production value is exemplary for an indie film. Cinematography is excellent and ambitious. The film sports some marvelous shots and compositions. There were some elements, I would have preferred to have seen handled a little differently, but you can still see a fine, extremely capable filmmaker in the making, who is about to break out with a feature film very soon. Velton‘s feature debut as sole director, Clouds, is scheduled to be completed early next year

To sum up. This is yet another well executed production from one Velton J Lishke and his crew. One that delivers for the viewers and may inspire other indie filmmakers to go to work.

Double 7 Six gets a 7.5/10 on the Look At Me, I’m A Film Critic scale!

The film is also available for viewing on AngeMan Distribution’s VOD channel. Link at top of page!

Until next time, keep supporting Indie film. My name is Asaf Angel. I thank you for tuning in to MyIndie Review Vlog! See you next week!