RATING ® 5.5/10
Eager to get justice for the death of his parents, Yanganani faces an unprecedented dilemma when a familiar voice makes contact and his daughter’s life is at the mercy of a serial killer.
Wounded is a highly anticipated short thriller that was Written and Directed by Zambian Filmmaker Paul S. Wilo on behalf of the SOTAMBE Film Institute. It has a runtime of 16 minutes and is led by Sunday Gatawa and Dixon Mumba. In this article, we’ll provide an indepth unbiased overview of the film, a direct link for where you can watch it, and everything else you might need to know if you’re an aspiring filmmaker or simply just a curious mind.
We’ll start off by addressing the elephant in the room, and that’s the talent. The acting from both our leads was about as peak as we’ve seen them on any production. A touch of brilliance all around. To achieve that level of acting self taught is almost unheard of, but they did it still. It’s a win for both the talent and the Director. We’re looking forward to seeing them tap into that energy alot more on future projects.
Sound was a huge letdown. We’ve emphasized before on this platform how sound can either break or make a great film. Of the 3 main components of sound, which are; the dialogue track, the foley and the score. Only the score seemed to impress. The dialogue was not mastered well and kept clipping in some parts. And the foley was never added to most of the film, making certain movements and reactions less impactful than how they would’ve been in actuality.
The story is well thought out. It draws us into an intense world effortlessly. It’s clear why it was picked for best script at the 2019 Sotambe Film Festival in the script submisons section. It embraces all the components of good storytelling and the dialogue is exceptional too. Delivery of lines needed abit more work but this isn’t something that is very noticable as you watch the film.
The opening is catchy and doesn’t waste time. It jumps straight into the good stuff. Not alot of time was wasted showing the Production Companies involved in making the film, they achieved this in only 14s, it’s barely even noticable. If there’s one thing we could change in the opening though, it’s the opening credits flashing one by one on the bottom left of the frame. Firstly, they took too long, the font was too big, and they became a complete destraction from the beautiful story and cinematography that the film opens with. Our advice: unless you absolutely need to, mention only relevant people to avoid distracting your audience in the opening credits. Everyone else can be mentioned at the end. It’s no biggy.
Speaking of Cinematography, we really loved the use of harsh direct light and how it perfectly fused with the set, especially in the indoor shots of Black Spider. The dolly zooms where properly timed, the aerial shots were decent and the dark tone could be felt throughout the film. We always think of cinematography as a set combination of different lighting techniques and frame work, I can acknowledge that this film didn’t fail to deliver in that area. The grading however proved to add grain to some scenes as the shots were underexposed. Our recommendation, especially to young film makers is that don’t be afraid to learn how to shoot in log/flat picture profiles. You’ll have alot more control over your image in Post. Also, diffusion is your best friend people. You don’t always need it, but even prayers won’t save you if you don’t have it. The exterior shots of the news lacked alot of it.
The production design was top notch. We enjoyed how it fused perfectly with the lighting and the efforts of the art department. The director did a great job too. There’s plenty of moments where you can sense that things could’ve gone south at any moment without proper direction. We stan!
Lastly, here’s some things that might have either contributed to the film’s shortcomings or didn’t depending on who you ask; the amount of smoke used in the final scene; the protagonist and the antagonist speaking on the phone for over half the film; some blocking scenarios; shot composition in nearly all the master shots; re-establishing already established scenes for no apparent reason at all.
Overall the film has a rating of 5.5 from us, plus a “B” for banger. You can watch Paul S. Wilo’s Wounded short film for free on Youtube using the link below.
Africa Film Review 