Plays March 26 - April 4 at Cinematheque

Babies havin’ babies, man.

I’m still in my early 20s, so the phrase “babies having babies” does admittedly have some significance to my age bracket. I just wish H & G had given me something more thematically resonant to latch on to than outrage over neglectful parenting.

H & G is a locally shot, self-styled modern retelling of the well-known German fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel. In this version, little Gemma (Breazy Diduck-Wilson) and Harley (Annika Elyse Irving) are abandoned by their juvenile mother and her obnoxious boyfriend. They’re taken in by Brendon (Tony Porteous), a solitary farmer whose personality lies somewhere between sweet loner and Norman Bates/Ed Gein-type psychopath.

The film relies on its high-concept Hansel and Gretel premise, and doesn’t have much else to lean on. The performances and the world of the film are painted in broad strokes that never feel believable. The child performers work when they’re simply behaving as children, but the scripted moments feel hollow. The negligent parent and creepy substitute feel more like script constructions than people.

There is, however, a valid artistic defence for those shortcomings: this is, after all, a fairy tale. That’s true, and if that defence works for you, I don’t begrudge you that opinion. But the film needed to offer more than the fairy tale construct to work for me. Executing a concept thoroughly doesn’t necessarily make a satisfying movie. The viewer needs something more to grasp, whether it be story, thematic, or visual elements.

Personally, I found that those other elements just weren’t there. The visual style could be called “neorealist”, but too often in the 21st century that term is used to justify camerawork that’s more point-and-shoot than creatively satisfying. Thematically, I get more out of Hansel and Gretel than H & G.

Winnipeg director Danishka Esterhazy (Black Field) obviously knows how to make a film. She shows much promise. I just hope her next project has material that’s a little more dense and satisfying.

Published in Volume 68, Number 25 of The Uniter (March 27, 2014)