The Darkest Corner of Paradise
By Benjamin Corman
The story is intriguing — one part coming of age, and one-part neo-Noir thriller. Though the setup, following Peter Landsman (Patrick O’Driscoll), a recent accounting graduate, as he searches unsuccessfully for a job in a floundering economy, is a bit overlong. As is all too common, it takes too much screen time to get into the central conflict. An extended set of sequences culminates with him getting a job at the local Ice rink, then flounders for another few sequences before getting into the real "beginning" of the tale, when he witnesses a murder.
The black and white cinematography (Henry Weintraub doing double duty as director of the film as well) is pulled off fairly well, though there are times of over and under-exposure. Though the later does lend to a bit of a Noir homage, which the filmmakers may have been going for given the film's similar story type. The meandering daytime scenes quickly give way to harsh, shadowy nights, and back again. In fact, there are are a few too many cuts from stark darkness to bright morning. Although the jarring effect is sometimes useful, it can be a bit of an annoyance in such repetition.
There are a couple of nice touches early on, as voice-over conversations are heard over images of the protagonist at several financial institutions. A well-executed solution to obviously not being able to shoot at those locations, which also concisely advances the story. Later, tension is successfully built in a series of scenes, with close, tight shots, of the protagonist in various states of peril. There is a good run of fairly handled pacing, which is unfortunately surrounded by some not so carefully executed evolution.
Though the dialogue is a bit stilted at times, the actors take it in stride. The principals are genuine, and capture their characters, though the believability of their delivery sometimes leaves something to be desired. Still the protagonist gives an earnest effort, and his transformation from idealistic graduate to obsessed vigilante is complete, by way of his presence and wardrobe change. However, despite the plight of the woman who is murdered before his eyes, I am never quite convinced as to why he becomes so obsessed with her, and his quest to find her attackers.
The brief scene in which he attempts to get police involvement via payphone, is neither believable nor adequate to assuage my doubt as to his motives or the likelihood that he would undertake such a vendetta. Further I have little cause to identify with him, and there's little rhyme or reason to who he is, what he wants, and what he is struggling to accomplish.
One of the most inescapable elements, at times a benefit and at others a detriment, is the sound design. The overall design is flat to the point of their being little to no ambient sound throughout the movie. No easy feat, and yet disconcerting at times, with only occasional usefulness. There are a few lengthy montages where no diegetic sound is used at all, and perhaps only light soundtrack music is heard, even when characters in the scenes are talking. In fact, so much weight is put on the visuals and actions, that the movie itself could feasibly be adapted to a silent film. While film at its core is a medium of visual storytelling, where and how sound is used is an important element of any production.
In the end, THE DARKEST CORNER OF PARADISE offers an interesting premise, with some significant story and structure issues. Paring things down in the editing process alone, could make this a more concise, better-flowing, film. Add genuine motivation and development of the protagonist, with a more pointed thesis and resolution, and it would have the potential to be quite good.
