Author: Alton Williams

The Stolen Wings ****½

The Stolen Wings is a short fantasy film by Irish writer and director Gerard Lough that tells the story of a babysitter (Natasha O’Brien) who makes up an elaborate fairy tale to keep a little girl (Sasha Phillips) amused…but may not be who she seems. In spite of the film only running a scant four minutes and 30 seconds (and that’s including credits), the story is actually pretty decent, an almost old fashioned kind of fairy tale, full of magic and wonder, and these are attributes that are present in pretty much every aspect of the film. Combining beautiful cinematography, good use of lighting, brilliant editing that provides a perfectly smooth flow, beautiful low tech effects and a magical soundtrack by Cian Furlong (not to mention some decent performances from the actors, all of whom obviously have rather limited roles due to the short running time), Lough has delivered a film that is technically superb and shows that enchantment doesn’t require a big budget. The only gripe – that the film isn’t longer as such a short amount of the beauty he has put on screen leaves you wanting more.

The Stolen Wings can be viewed in full here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lGtg8qRkPQ

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)