"Little Hope for the Future in Scott Goldberg's Short Film LOSS of HOPE"

"Little Hope for the Future in Scott Goldberg's short film LOSS OF HOPE"

Poetry and post-apocalyptic treatise on life without a future seems to be on the menu in director Scott Goldberg's short film "Loss of Hope." Many detractors of the whole "film as art" movement will fail to grasp the intricate message of Goldberg's film which stars Paul Kratka (a veteran of "Friday the 13^th Part 3") as Paul Sanders, a Vietnam vet who pontificates on life without his beloved wife Claire (Gail Merzer Behrens) during an outbreak of nuclear war that has spread simultaneously across the world. This is an extremely hot-button issue given today's political climate in which there seem to be a new nuclear power rising every other week (or one country trying to prevent another from being able to do so).

The film opens with a bang as we first see a man and a woman descend into the darkness of their basement home in anticipation of a nuclear winter that is just around the corner. From a radio announcement we learn that nuclear war is here and from there we hear Paul (in voice over) telling his daughter Sara (Jennifer Baltusis) that he knows they won't make it much longer. This is when we realize that the two figures that have descended into the basement may very well be Paul and Sara who are hiding from the nuclear fallout.

From here the story is relayed to us via first person account by Paul who gives a startling monologue of events to the audience of his experience during the Vietnam War and how he survived which draws a parallel to that of how the nation is handling the current "War on Terror." Given the public's outrage of both incidents there is little wonder why Goldberg and co-screenwriter Baltusis chose this avenue to unfold their story. Goldberg (who also doubles as director of photography on the film) crafts images that coincide with Paul's recount of his life in Vietnam and the death and life of his wife. Using very little dialogue outside of Paul's monologue we learn that Claire was killed during a plane trip back home to be with the family and of Paul's younger days in the war and when he first met Claire. These are the images that stay with Paul and are burned in his mind as the end of everything he holds dear is torn from under him. Goldberg reminds the audience of the nuclear war ahead with images of nuclear winter and life as a dead and barren landscape through fog encrusted streets and barren plant life mixed with a world now buried under snow.

The cadence of Mark Nadolski's powerful score compliments Goldberg's images perfectly creating a sense of impending and everlasting dread in a world in which Paul has finally lost any real hope. "Loss of Hope" is not a film that strives to simply entertain. It is a film that strives to wake people up to a very real possibility. For Paul in was too late, but Goldberg's film hopes that it's not too late for the rest of us.

To see the film LOSS OF HOPE go here: http://vimeo.com/13090152