User reviews

In London, the executive Michael (Anthony Head) and his wife Amelia (Natasha Powell) have successful upper class lifestyle, living in a comfortable house, having a fancy car with driver and showing a great respect and affection to each other. However, Amelia has a lover in coma in the hospital, and she frequently visits him and pays the expenses of his treatment. While traveling to Milan in a business trip, Michael has one night stand with an escort girl. Amelia receives a phone call, and when she arrives in the hospital, she realizes that her lover has died. When Michael returns from Milan, their lives return to their hypocrite routine.

"Amelia and Michael" has only 10 minutes running time, but director Daniel Cormack is able to perfectly compile and disclose the masks of the wasted relationships in his short. The tight and sharp screenplay uses ellipsis to unravel the hypocrite and accommodated relationship of a middle-aged couple, but unfortunately it is not possible to develop how their affective lives have become so shallow. I know the actor Anthony Head from Buffy series, and I really liked his performance in a dramatic role. Natasha Powell is unknown for me, but has also a great performance. The stylish cinematography and lighting are impressive for a low-budget short, and I liked the last scene with the reference of the motorcycle passing by Amelia's car indicating that their lives will remain the same. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

The married couple Amelia and Michael enjoy an expensive, comfortable, upper-class life-style. They have a new car with their own driver and a large house. On the surface, everything is fine between them. However, she secretly goes to the hospital to spend time with someone in a coma, who may be her lover. And her husband ditches a trip to Milan to spend the night with an escort. This is about the things hidden, particularly between people who appear to have happy relationships with each other. It is also an exercise in suggestion; notice how little is actually directly shown, much less told. Not only does it utilize film being a mainly visual medium, it respects our intelligence and deductive skills. This is 10 minutes long not counting the credits, and 11 with them. It's immensely professionally done, with strong production values as far as the the camera-work, the editing and the sound goes. Very smooth. The pace is great. It keeps your attention well throughout. This is currently available for free, legal viewing online. There is implied sexuality and mature themes in this. I recommend this to fans of expertly done shorts and well-written character drama. 8/10

Outstanding film which maybe rather short in length but it tells more in ten (10) minutes than a two hour film. There is unhappy men and women who are desperate for a different kind of experience with a male or female and feel trapped in their marriage or relationships. This story will always be successful because people like to view people who do things they would like to do or have done against their husband and wives. The Director and Producer have contributed great talent to the entertainment industry and desire complete praise. I sincerely hope that these talented people all produce many more great films that will entertain us in the up and coming years into the future.

Sometimes the problem with a short film that has two separate individuals as writer and director is that the two people involved are at odds with each other artistically . One instinctively feels that neither understands what the other is trying to do which means the short suffers

With AMELIA AND MICHAEL Stephen Betts has written a relatively low concept story about two human beings who have been in a relationship where the love is burning less brightly than it was several years ago . Director Daniel Cormack has resisted any temptation by " livening " the story up by fancy camera moves that often blights many a short by an inexperienced director and shoots the story so that the audience can feel the emotions the eponymous characters are feeling with guilt and forgiveness being the main emotions felt

A story that is short , simple , without a clever plot but one that is essentially human . You may not recognise yourself in the characters but they'll certainly remind you of someone you know

Amelia And Michael tells a story of a married couple who might have been hurting each other in the past with infidelities, but have decided to stay married and lead separate lives. It's all a part of a great accommodation they've reached.

They look to have all the material needs you could possibly ask for in 21st Century London. Yet Natasha Powell seems to be wrapped up in the care of a comatose man and Anthony Head best known to American viewers from Buffy The Vampire Slayer series likes to have his nooners with working girls. As it is very British it's all quite civilized.

It was nicely portrayed, but this is certainly not the kind of film to create any excitement with the viewer. The director's a talented fellow, he should have spiced this one up a bit.

A husband and wife in upscale London embark on separate covert liaisons that may or may not break up their marriage. Amelia (Natasha Powell) and Michael (Anthony Head) appear civil toward each other, with nary a hint of outward strife. But something is wrong between them. What motivates their secretive behavior? What else are they hiding from each other and from us? The viewer must fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle.

To the script's credit, characters connect with the audience largely through facial expressions, and through body language in general. Dialogue is wonderfully minimal. Peripheral characters add depth to the drama, and do so without intruding on the story's central focus. What we seem to have here is a story that explores the clash that can occur when commitment to a spouse interferes with, or contradicts, one's commitment to self, when the marriage has become stale.

Production values are terrific. Location shooting imparts a sense of realism. Lighting and framing enhance visuals. Cinematography features lots of close-ups, which accent the focus on characters. Casting gives us a photogenic group of people. And the performances of Natasha Powell and Anthony Head help lift the film to a high level of professionalism.

My only complaint is the story's slow pace. A number of scenes seem unnecessarily long, given the film's runtime. I could have wished for tighter editing to speed up the action. But that's just me. Other viewers may be happy with a leisurely pace.

"Amelia and Michael" is a quiet, low-key character drama that seems deliberately enigmatic. I can envision a feature-length film that uses this short as the basis for a Middle Act. In an expanded version the first part of the script would explore back-stories, ancillary characters, motivations and conflicts. The ending would convey the outcome of these forces on Amelia and Michael and related effects on those around them.

I love a good mystery. This short film certainly qualifies, and presumably so too would an expanded version.

This is not a film I would normally watch, however, a person asked me to watch it and post a review and seeing as how I have not reviewed a short film in a while I thought I would take them up on their offer. Like I said, this is not a film I would of searched out and watched on my own, I am not really into dramas all that much, but I found this one to be rather interesting. It was also very well done, it is the type of short film that is basically a short movie as it looks like it has a budget, it has a rather good soundtrack and it looks more like a mini movie rather than some of the more amateurish short films and full length movies I have seen over the years. The film is about a husband and wife who do not seem very close, nor do they seem like they despise each other. They both lead their lives with secrets. You see the secrets and how they play out. Very somber indeed and much different than the way a similar scenario would happen in America (this film is somewhere in England). I was impressed by how the film played out, just not really a genre I enjoy all that much otherwise I most likely would have scored it higher. Films like this end up making me depressed and I try to avoid films like this for the most part, but it was well done.

The life style of yuppies is examined with an incisive eye by Director Daniel Cormack working on the intelligent screen play by Stephen Betts. This is a short film that could have been made into a full feature on the basis of the strong writing, acting and the direction given to it by Mr. Cormack, who really surprises with his approach. Like in fashion, less is more. In the case of this short, the axiom proves right in that the viewer gets to know two people in no time at all.

We are taken to meet an attractive couple that seem to be in an ideal situation. The comfort of their lives is clearly apparent; Amelia and Michael seem to have it all. That is why is so surprising the turn of events that come between them. His deception is somewhat hard to accept because Amelia is a beautiful creature. On the other hand, Amelia has perhaps an inner life she shares with no one. We see her at the hospital with what could be a lover, or maybe a brother, or even a good friend who is facing death.

The story has an ironic feel that kept reminding this viewer of some of the stories by O'Henry. "Amelia and Michael" is amazing little film that does justice to the effort Mr. Cormack, cast and crew put into it.

How much do you know about those you should know most about? How much should you know? Do you need to know everything? Amelia and Michael should know everything about each other as they are a prosperous, successful, professional married couple. Yet each keeps a secret from each other in Daniel Cormack's debut film.

Amelia has a devotion to a critically injured young man and she visits him whilst he is lying in a hospital bed. He is hooked up to a life support machine and is still and silent. Who he is we never find out, a lover or male relative perhaps? Michael's secret is more straightforward he lies about a business trip and uses a call girl. He suffers from guilt, she from grief. In the end they confess to each other and have no more secrets. Except that he was called by a colleague when in the hotel room he uses and she casts an eye over a young man who passes by on a motorbike. Does this mean that they are serial offenders? As the viewer we think we know all about them but at the end we can't be sure.

Cormack manages to put this story across in a short space in an economic style which nevertheless packs in lots of information and detail. The viewer is never left to watch too long on one aspect of the film but it never feels like being rushed, the pace is superb.

In his first film Cormack has managed to tell a story well and use his star actor (Anthony Head) well. The technical standard is very high and at no time does it feel like a low budget film. He is obviously a talent to watch out for in future.

A British businessman sees his wife off to work, but she removes her wedding band as soon as she's out of the car and he makes arrangements for a rendezvous with another woman once he arrives at his office. Short film from director Daniel Cormack (who also co-produced) and writer Stephen Betts is a smoothly-orchestrated character study which manages to say a lot (mostly in visual terms) within a 10-minute span. The clear, precise cinematography from Merritt Gold, Gareth Davies' editing, and Nick Loe's portentous score are each commendable, and the finale is an interesting bluff that keeps us wondering. Does the man or his wife suspect the other of infidelity...and does it really matter in the scheme of things, in the context of harsh reality? An intriguing piece of work.

Daniel Cormack's ten-minute short, Amelia and Michael, has little dialogue but draws us in with its compelling use of gestures, facial expressions, and subtle glances to establish an unsettling mood. Featuring outstanding performances from Natasha Powell and Anthony Head as an estranged couple named Amelia and Michael, the film is a compelling experience of two people who have suppressed their aliveness and ability to connect with others and are simply going through the motions of life.

As the film opens, a seemingly well-to-do, not unattractive middle aged couple, Amelia and her husband Michael sit silently in the back seat of their driven luxury car. Everything seems okay on the surface, but underneath there is a sense that all is not well. The sit far apart and show no visible expression, each barely aware of the others presence.

When Michael kisses Amelia goodbye and he enters his place of business, we can feel the blast of cold air that permeates the atmosphere. The distance is maintained in the evening when they are both at home. Amelia asks her sullen distracted husband, "Are you all right?" To which he gives the standard evasion of people who are uncommunicative about their feelings, "Just tired." Headed off on a flight to Milan, Michael leaves some flowers with his wife, but it is an empty gesture without warmth or genuine feeling. As might be suspected, the next sequence reveals what has been hidden.

Amelia visits a young man in the hospital who is lying in a coma. There is no indication as to who he is or why he is ill, but a picture of the two on the dresser indicates that they were lovers. In Milan, Michael uses the services of a call girl with the same indifference that his relationship with Amelia displays. When he comes home and sees Amelia in tears, he thinks she must somehow know about his affair and apologizes for his one-night fling, unaware that Amelia is most likely crying over the death of her lover.

At the end, they are no further along. Their relationship seems to have petrified. They do not seem to be aware that there is a problem or that they need to do anything about it. It is apparent that, as Albert Einstein pointed out, "No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it."

When is an eleven minute film far too long? When it doesn't go anyplace. This short subject about the masked, empty, unhappy, luxurious lives of two rich people has all of its technical issues sorted away properly -- the cinematography is excellent, although there is one mismatched shot towards the end; check the biker next to the limo -- but all we have is a brief exposition of the state of the their lives. She is having an affair. He goes to hotels and has sex with hookers, so they are even there. However, someone she cares about (a brother?) is in a coma and dies, so she wins.

And that is why this film is essentially a bore. It is not a moving picture. There is no plot, no real change and nothing moves except arms and legs. It is an eleven minute portrait of two uninteresting people.

When I am caught up in a movie, I don't notice the camera-work or the mismatched shots. I am not afflicted with a sense of impatience for the film makers to get on with it, nor wonder who sleeps in a hotel robe. This movie is as uninvolving as the the marriage it depicts. If they can't be bothered to care, why should I?

Having been contacted by private message, I agreed to watch Amelia and Michael. From its idea it seemed very interesting and indeed it was. I will admit I was a little worried that Amelia and Michael due to its short running time would not live up to this great idea.

Fortunately, Amelia and Michael did do exactly that. My only real criticism is one or two scenes that felt as though they went on for a tad too long. This aside, I cannot deny the professionalism of Amelia and Michael.

It is very well made, the scenery is striking, the lighting brooding and the photography superb. The music is very evocative and fits very well always with what is going on on screen.

While the dialogue is minimal, the dialogue there is is sharp. Aas for the quietness I found that very effective and it added to the power and poignancy of the story. Speaking of the story, the concept showed a lot of promise and not only does the short raise intriguing questions but it fits a lot in 10 minutes.

The direction is a big part of Amelia and Michael's success, it is very confident, and the acting is strong throughout with Anthony Head standing out. All in all, a wonderfully professional and very interesting short that pushes all the right buttons. 9/10 Bethany Cox

If I'm going to be frank, I found the story of Amelia and Michael just a little bit on the dreary and depressing side for my liking: an affluent married couple's relationship is on the verge of collapse, the wife (Natasha Powell) sneaking off to visit her motorcycle-riding bit of rough on the side, who is in intensive care after an accident, and the husband (Anthony Head) indulging in a spot of hanky-panky with a high class escort girl. Told at an extremely leisurely pace by director Daniel Cormack, this brief insight into a private world of secrecy and lies is very low on the feel-good factor: after eleven minutes, nothing has been resolved, leaving this particular viewer feeling a tad morose.

But although this low-key character study could never be described as cheery, Cormack's keen understanding of his medium still makes this a worthwhile watch, especially for those interested in the technical aspects of film: from careful shot composition and camera placement, to precise editing, to considered use of music and subtle lighting, this is a highly accomplished piece of movie-making in almost every department.

Take the opening shot, for example, which has Cormack's characters sat at either edge of the screen with nothing much happening in the middle; at first I had this down as sloppy framing, but felt a bit of a twit once it became clear that the space between characters was not a clumsy mistake but rather a clever metaphor for how husband and wife have become emotionally detached from each other (the same trick is used as the couple get ready to go to bed). This level of visual acuity can be found throughout Amelia and Michael: the potentially sensational material—the sex and death—is dealt with sensitively using subtle suggestion rather than blatant imagery; Michael's regret is powerfully handled in a tightly edited sequence that sees him unable to sleep in the bed in which his act of infidelity took place; and muted colours reflect the monotony of the situation while a neat cyclical narrative device—the appearance of a motorcyclist—effectively conveys hopelessness.

Amelia and Michael are a successful couple who outwardly have everything they could want. A good home. A classy car with a driver. High-flying careers. However their marriage is one of discrete politeness where once there would have been intimacy and both harbours secrets about the other.

I was away for work recently and had access to broadband (which believe it or, this particular internet geek does not have in his home) and decided to take up an invitation to watch another film from Daniel Cormack. The first film I had seen from Daniel had not really impressed me much but I was curious to see more from him. This short film was a much better calling card for him as it showed much more style and skill with the camera than "Make Me A Tory" had done. It also shows a much more subtle touch as a story teller (although that would not be hard).

The film has a recognisable couple in the middle. Their wealth and comfort is probably exaggerated a little beyond what I can relate to, but the emotional heart is there – or rather the lack of it. We see both partners together looking slick, being "content" and exchanging kisses on the cheek etc as the routine has had them doing for many years. Individually though they are both seeking something elsewhere. It is here where the film frustrated me a little but not allowing me to understand the "something" that well. I didn't get who the hospitalised man was to Amelia (if anyone) and I didn't get if the conclusion of the film was "more of the same" or "all fixed now"; I choose to take it as the former, as this would be more in keeping with the film I did find the lack of detail to be a bit of an appeal as well because it left the focus on this rather unfulfilling relationship and the way that played out for the two characters. However this effect could still have been achieved with a bit of detail being delivered as well. The cast seem to be suggesting this as well. I thought Head was good but his character seemed easier to understand – not only in terms of what was going on but also in terms of the "why". Powell didn't seem so assured about her character and she was less convincing as the wife in this dead relationship (and unfortunately I do know how one acts). The two did do an OK job of convincing as a couple, but lacked that chemistry that comes when chemistry exists but has just died from lack of trying (didn't describe that very well but you know what I mean). I'm not sure if Cormack failed to deliver this aspect of Betts' script or not but I'm guessing that a lot did fall to the former to draw out given how little dialogue there was. In this area he does OK but generally as director he is impressive, with good shots, good editing and clever use of film stock coming together to make a visually polished and impressive product.

Touching in its own way then and I did like the way that it allows the emotions to be mostly played out in silence in the small things – just as they are in the marriage itself. However the lack of narrative was a bit frustrating and I did think that either the screenplay needed to have more in it for the actors to work off and deliver on screen. Pretty good short film, just left me feeling like it could have gone that extra bit further and been better for it.

Amelia and Michael (2007)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Extremely well-made short about an upper class married couple, Michael (Anthony Head) and Amelia (Natasha Powell), who appear to have everything but both are leading a secret life. When he's supposed to be on a business trip, Michael is in a hotel room with a prostitute while his wife is also with a lover except this one is in a hospital in a coma. I probably watch over two or three hundred short films a year and after a while they all pretty much bleed together so it can be hard finding one that's rather original. Back in the 20s, 30s and 40s major studios did a fantastic job with them because they were in high demand but in the past few decades it seems anyone can make a short and release it. The shocking thing about AMELIA AND MICHAEL is how incredibly well-made it is. I'm really not sure what the budget was but this every bit like an expensive studio film because the cinematography really brings everything to life. What really works so well here is the direction by Daniel Cormack because unlike so many young filmmakers he's not trying to make his film feel cool or something you'd catch on MTV but instead he really tries to tell a story and develop a couple characters. You might say big deal to that but it's very rare for so much to happen in just a 10-minute movie and I give the director credit for keeping the film at a slow pace, building up drama and most importantly building up the sadness in these two people's lives. I thought it was this overall sadness of the characters that really exploded out of the film and the slow pacing really helped this. I was very impressed with the two leads who brought a lot to their roles. Both really help bring the characters to life and it's not usual seeing such fine performances in a short like this. There's no question that the director has an eye to building up a story without feeling the need for silly fast cutting or constantly having the camera moving to try and build up some sort of style. The film certainly isn't a masterpiece but it's highly well-made and effective.