Rose of Nevada: Time travels of Cornwall
What is the best thing about Cornwall? The Beach? The pasties? The Eden Project? I think it might very well be Mark Jenkins, and his latest film Rose of Nevada, is another step towards the pantheon of British directors.
In a Cornish fishing village in decline, a boat that had been missing for over three decades suddenly reappears, however to fisherman Nick’s (George MacKay) astonishment, the rest of the villagers seems unsurprised by this, and quickly gather a crew to send the boat back to sea. Nick and Liam (Callum Turner) board this mysterious boat, and upon their return instead of the desolating fishing village they had left, they arrive at a busy and thriving version of the same place, several decades earlier… As the sea, and the waves come and go, so does the boat across these timelines, and with it, we understand the demanding nature of fishing, and the importance of community in an emotionally dense time travelling film.
Rose of Nevada is shot in the unique style, and method, that has permeated most of Mark Jenkins’ films, making it mesmerizingly beautifully in its cinematography, and eerily immersive in its sound design. For those who know other films by Jenkins, it might not come as a surprise that unlike the current practice, Jenkins shoots his films silently with a metronome camera and builds all of the sound effects and dialogue in post-production. Knowing this, we get to appreciate each small sound in the cinema room and start to wonder what its purpose in the scene might be.
After all, in a time when plots often are often overexplained to cater for audience’s short attention spans and time spent on their phones (yes, apparently studios are really doing this!), Mark Jenkins forces his audience to pay attention. Although he never carries us by the hand, he never leaves us adrift either, all the clues are meticulously placed on screen, and like a detective, it is our job to find them. This week, the Dukes invites us to take on this investigative role, as we navigate the Cornish waters through different timelines, and even if you’ll want to get off the boat, you surely won’t want to get off your seat!
Written by João Eduardo Lima Belchior
