I regularly receive requests from various (new) directors who have made a movie and ask me whether I’d be interested in reviewing it. Through the years I’ve become very hesitant in accepting such requests as quality generally is quite low. And I think it is hard to have personal contact with someone and also write something negative. It’s a product which they believe in, but where you don’t share that vision. Recently I was asked to review The Cobblestone Corridor, directed by Erik Bloomquist. I decided to watch the trailer and it peaked my interest. Not only because the story itself looked fascinating, but also because it looked good. I had the hope that this short movie was worth seeing.
The story is about a student named Allan Archer (Erik Bloomquist), who is editor of the school newspaper. He does his work fine, but unexpectedly gets involved with a mysterious case in which a member of the English group is suddenly sacked. He decides to investigate.
The Cobblestone Corridor shows that Bloomquist is a very able director. The sets, lighting and the use of various techniques makes it a good looking film. It breathes the atmosphere you’d normally see in a noir thriller (including a possible femme fatale). The way the students are dressed, the use of record players and typewriters even give you the feeling it is set during an earlier time. But when laptop and cellphones appear there is a moment of shock (which I didn’t mind) because your expectation is somewhat different. As I was watching it I got involved in the events and just like the main character you want to find out what is going on exactly. It is a movie I really enjoyed watching. With this short film (25 minutes) Blomquist shows what he is capable of and I’m looking forward to what he’ll be doing next. When he makes his next film I won’t hesitate to watch it.
