I genuinely don’t like to rip
into a movie that clearly didn’t have much budget behind it but Bliss is a very
disappointing waste of potential. It is the story of a teenage girl, Tasha, who
discovers her father is not the abusive one she was brought up with and takes
herself off to Norway to find him was an interesting premise that doesn’t
deliver.
There were some good elements. Freya Park’s gives a good performance with little to work from bringing out Tasha’s teenage confusion, wistfulness and determination and there is some gentle charisma in support from Lars Arentz-Hansen. The film looks pretty enough in outdoor scenes (some internal shots weren’t properly in focus) and director Rita Osei has a good eye for getting maximum impact out of a nice location.
The problem is an incredibly weak, sub-soap opera script, worsened by some really poor editing. Nearly every scene is cut ridiculously short, often four or five lines in. Tasha’s journey’s climax is at a music festival, a singer begins to sing a song and then about a minute in, it just cuts to the end, instead of giving us the full scene and a sense that we actually built to something. The dialogue is flat and often very cheesy. This means there is no chance for the development of characters or for the story or film to breathe. The film is then further suffocated by an incredibly jarring and overwhelming score which sucks the drama out of the scenes rather than supporting it.
The fact that I did care a bit about Tasha and what happened to her, and found her believable is a credit to Parks who deserved a better vehicle than Bliss.
There were some good elements. Freya Park’s gives a good performance with little to work from bringing out Tasha’s teenage confusion, wistfulness and determination and there is some gentle charisma in support from Lars Arentz-Hansen. The film looks pretty enough in outdoor scenes (some internal shots weren’t properly in focus) and director Rita Osei has a good eye for getting maximum impact out of a nice location.
The problem is an incredibly weak, sub-soap opera script, worsened by some really poor editing. Nearly every scene is cut ridiculously short, often four or five lines in. Tasha’s journey’s climax is at a music festival, a singer begins to sing a song and then about a minute in, it just cuts to the end, instead of giving us the full scene and a sense that we actually built to something. The dialogue is flat and often very cheesy. This means there is no chance for the development of characters or for the story or film to breathe. The film is then further suffocated by an incredibly jarring and overwhelming score which sucks the drama out of the scenes rather than supporting it.
The fact that I did care a bit about Tasha and what happened to her, and found her believable is a credit to Parks who deserved a better vehicle than Bliss.
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