User Reviews

First Anniversary (directed by James Huang and written by Chin Yu) is a heartbreaking short film that makes great use of Ernest Hemmingway's iceberg theory; that is, that what appears is only a small tip of what's happening. This adds impact to the story, giving the audience a greater role in the nuances of the story, and allowing deeper meanings to shine through implicitly.

In First Anniversary, we see Kate (played by Kate T. Billingsley) and Owen (played by Keith Chandler) reluctant to meet each other. They never say they are divorced; instead, we know they know each other because they instantly recognize each other, and we find out they are divorced because of their hesitancy towards each other and, ultimately, because they ask each other when they stopped wearing their respective wedding rings.

Kate and Owen are meeting for a reason that's also never stated explicitly, and I will try not to divulge too much here. Let's just say that something awful happened and it was nobody's fault, yet the two feel obliged to meet and visit a place together.

There are more conversations. There's talk of missing each other and of love. The wedding rings come up again. These two obviously have unresolved issues, as well as a lot of love towards each other. They agree to meet again in exactly a year. Maybe they can be together; maybe they can't. That's not the point, really. The point is, the audience gets to be entirely emotionally invested for 10 minutes of beautiful film. Thank goodness for all that is left unsaid in First Anniversary.

A short film about dealing with loss and the consequences of it. The tension and anxiety are evident from the beginning to the end of this film. The story was well done with good acting. Both the man and the woman did a good job conveying sadness, regret, and reluctance. The nervous, anxious conversations and pauses helped set the mood for the film. The conversation about trivial things before they leave the coffee shop and their avoiding looking at each other is a sad and an effective way to get the point across. It is clear they are struggling and you feel empathy for them. The end of the film was rather dramatic with the walk through the graveyard. You suspect but are not sure until they discuss what had happened. It is a very poignant film. You want them to work through the loss and pain and be together. It appears though as she walks away that this is not possible. They still care about each other but can't get past the pain. I wondered what she was thinking as she walked away.