by Jean-Michel Desmeules

Created on: April 08, 2009

I propose a review of a movie very close to my heart, the 2006 release "Cashback". It has won many awards and praises all over. Let me explain why to the best of my ability

It shows life (and women) from an artist's point of view, and as one myself I found it was the first movie to successfully show my view of the world. It was the first time a movie spoke to my artistic side this much and I highly recommend it to any visual artists out there. As you may suspect, there is nudity in this cinematographical masterpiece; however, the movie proposes not to merely show female nudity, but rather to explore the "work of art" that is women, in a non-pornographical, very tasteful and most importantly visually rich way.

After a break-up, aspiring artist and student Ben Willis finds himself unable to sleep any more. With this new found time, he decides to join the workforce of a local grocery store for the night shift. He quickly becomes sentimentally attached to a female colleague, Sharon Pintey, but it takes a certain course of events for him to finally go out with her. The storyline is divided between normal everyday life with its awkwardness and fast pace, and the moments Ben imagines he can stop time to freeze a moment. While the motioned part of the movie are filled with colourful characters and subtle comedy, it is within the motionless moments that the movie contains the greater part of its beauty, as Ben draws or studies the depths of the world that surrounds him. The story is simple but well crafted, and you will find the characters very endearing.

As I said in the beginning, nudity is omnipresent, but it is explored in a most brilliant way, sometimes comical and reminiscent of our early experiences with sexuality. The smart use of stop motion to simulate static time, offers the possibility to view the female models and other characters as if they were statues exquisitely carved in a moment of their life. The "cherry on top" are the very special drawings during the ending scenes; drawings I wished they would have shown one by one during the credits

The stop-motion and clever camera angles were well done. I enjoyed the quality and thought that went into the special effects and overall this is a diamond of a movie which I suggest you buy or rent as soon as possible. The only thing I think was missing was more artistic content, but as far as I am concerned, it is at the very top of my movie collection.

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