Translations is a poetic and sombre study of grief, love and moving on which centres around Stef, a young Welsh woman who, at the start of film, is pretty much housebound due to her agoraphobia. Her isolation is broken by the arrival of Evan, her late brother’s best friend, and this meeting stirs up memories, shared trauma and old resentments which the two must navigate and come to terms with.
The first half of this film plays out like a two-handed play, with two great, naturalistic performances by Kate Morgan-Jones and Alan Emrys. The pair reminisce about their pasts and philosophise about their lives, and Evan tries to support Stef to escape from her self-confinement. It’s the most engaging part of the film as there’s plenty of mystery between the pair as questions abound about what they have both been through, and what they want and need from themselves and each other.
The second part of the film moves things on more quickly as Stef to starts to navigate the world outside and it loses focus a bit in the process, but by then you’re invested in the characters and eager to see how things play out.
Filmed in moody black and white and backed up by a gentle soundtrack, this is an assured piece of filmmaking from Keith Wilhelm Kopp, with a beautiful script by Laurence Guy that, whilst lyrical in many ways, doesn’t sink into self-conscious artiness and remains compelling and accessible.
Translations is showing at Chapter Arts Cinema (Cardiff) on 26 August and The Queens Hall (Narbeth) on 31 August.
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