In the annals of chutzpah and cheek, right up there at the tippy-top may be the new short film,
LOST + FOUND -- from director
Jeremiah Kipp (shown below) and his adaptor
Laura Sweeney -- of
John Milton's huge opus poem (twelve books that include over 10,000 lines of verse),
Paradise Lost.
December 9 happens to be Milton's birthday, so it's only fitting that this very short film (seven minutes, including credits) can be seen on
Vimeo today.
TrustMovies is a fan of
Kipp's short films (if not so much his full-length stuff), and though I have only read snippets of Milton's original, Kipp/Sweeney's little distillation strikes me as a not-bad précis of this vast work.
Jennifer Plotzke makes a smart and impressive Satan, with
Ari Rossen good as her prime minion.
Carl Hendrick Louis proves a handsome and well-spoken Adam, while only
Pia Haddad disappoints as Eve (her vocal quality is not up to the level of the rest of the cast). The rich black-and-white cinematography (by
Brian Morgan), both interior and exterior, is gorgeous to view and the film is handily edited (by
Charlotte Purser) and has a lovely music score by either
Myuu (listed on the IMDB) or
Nicholas Gasparini (listed on the end-credits roll). Maybe they're one and the same? In all, this seems like a fine, if very brief, way to honor Milton, while reminding us that he and his work still matter, even after -- yes -- 400 years. You can catch this little film now on
Vimeo by simply clicking
here.
