VERDICT: A father attempts to create some kind of life and legacy for his blind son in this tender but bittersweet Maltese drama.
The ethical and empathetic implications of weaving a world of untruth sit at the heart of Hristijan Kostovski’s sentimental short, Beautiful Lie.
For the aging Oliver (Stephen Oliver), providing a solid foundation for his blind son, James (Vladimir Cabak), has been an all-consuming endeavour. Consigned to a small seafront apartment, Oliver is reticent to let James go outside, instead sheltering him from the cruel world. James’ only real connections beyond the four walls around him are his father’s descriptions of the daily happenings on the neighbouring beach and the nearby park, viewed from their windows, and a deeply held pen pal relationship in which James corresponds with a woman named Angie who he loves ferociously and longs to one day meet.
It is evident from early in Kostovski’s film that all is not quite as it seems with Oliver and James’ situation and although the love the father has for his son is evident, the truth of the life James believes himself to be experiencing comes starkly into question. Whether Oliver is just genuinely overprotective, or whether he is himself stunted by a life that has given him little to smile about, is difficult to say. Stephen Oliver wears the years of his character’s hardship in the lines of his furrowed brow and the resignation of every drag he takes on a cigarette, staring forlornly out to see.
As the truth of the scenario becomes apparent, Beautiful Lie leans into the sentimentality of its setup. This is a film about sacrifice in several ways – the sacrifice necessary to provide for your loved ones, the sacrifice necessary to produce great art – but it is also a film about the ways that loneliness shapes and consumes us.
Director, producer, screenplay: Hristijan Kostovski
Cast: Stephen Oliver, Vladimir Cabak, Michelle Martin
Cinematography, editing: Dragan Tutis
Music: Kokan Dimushevski
Sound: Max-Imre Mikovic, Kokan Dimushevski, Renato Rincon
Production companies: GT Visual, HK Films (Malta)
Venue: Mediterrane (Out of Competition – Malta Expanded)
In English
35 minutes
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