Drifting (1999) User Reviews

Takes a lot of work to guess at the point - a little help? (spoilers)

[bob the moo · 6 July 2002]

A man in his 30's returns to his roots and lives with his Aunt. However he has nothing to do and decides to build a small boat in his house, however his reasons for this hobby are not what everyone expects.

This is interesting as you're not sure what's going on. The characters are interesting and the initial set up makes you think it's going somewhere. However it doesn't have very long to make it's point and it ends very quickly. The man makes his small boat from scrap wood from around the estate but then burns it as it sails away, walking away content. There isn't enough time to work out why he does this and it's quite frustrating when it ends.

I suspect that he does it to get rid of the ghost of his much more successful cousin and move on from his past (he has spent 20 years at sea). He's sleeping in his cousin's room and surrounded by his cousin's `ship in a bottle' models. His Aunt is clearly not impressed by him and not happy with anything he does. He shows her the boat before he then burns it. I think he wanted to burn away what remained of his cousin and his past - to show what he can do and then show that it doesn't even matter to him.

Overall this is well made and looks very good, but I needed about 2 or 3 more minutes just to get the point. This is my interpretation and I'd love it if someone could help me out and give me their reading of it.

Disappointing

[Theo Robertson · 4/10 · 5 May 2005]

Bob The Moo contacted me to let me know there was going to be a couple of shorts on Channel 4 very early Friday morning , a Danish film called GRAVEJR and this one called DRIFTING Bob said in his own review that DRIFTING is frustrating and he's right . The film opens with a sequence set in a bus station and right away I thought " Ah it's about one of those people who travel from one place to the other , it's about a drifter that's how this short get its title " but then it's revealed that the main character is visiting family roots so it's not about a drifter . The characters then start talking in Gaelic which seemed slightly strange and wondered what the point of this was and then the story goes onto its conclusion , a conclusion that is very frustrating and pointless and will make the audience feel disappointed

Great little film

[Calypso_sanny · 10/10 · 22 April 2006]

I loved this short movie about what I assumed was a fisherman returning to his home although because he's been away so long it doesn't feel like home. Living with his aunt who tries to cling to her traditional roots and insists on speaking Scottish Gaelic all the time although her nephew struggles to communicate with her on this level. The fisherman requires a purpose in his life and to set himself free from his past which has him 'Drifting' through his life. So much has been crammed into this 10 minute movie but there is still much left to the imagination - I'm only assuming the protagonists past as it is never definitively revealed at any point although there are pointers. Its a pity there are not more of this type of short film shown on television more often.