There’s no arguing Welcome To Pine Hill is something very different and original, and it all worked until the last 5 minutes, that’s where it might have been lost. Without spoiling it for anyone, it felt like it needed to go further than just having a symbolic message.
The film follows Shannon, played by Shannon Harper in the lead (and his debut) role in a faultless performance. It’s a gentle, quiet, but powerful performance that took real life inspirations. Director Keith Miller wanted to blur the line between reality and fiction. He purposely shot with very low quality cameras for a documentary-esque look and used a lot of none actors (including Shannon Harper) to give off that ‘real’ feel. The opening scene follows a short film starring Harper & Miller as themselves inspired by real life events between the two. It’s fascinating how much real inspiration Miller took for the short and, in follow up, the full film, Welcome To Pine Hill. He wanted the actors to be real, to feel real and play themselves, but slight exaggerations of themselves.
The next time we see Shannon he’s well dressed working in an office as an Insurance Adjuster, meeting the same people saying roughly the same thing, it’s a routine sort of job but he carries himself in a very professional manner. Obviously time has passed since the opening part of the film and Shannon is now a very different person, but people from his past would like to have him back in his old life, only asking through respect, not violence or intimidation, and he declines politely. Upon finding out he has a very rare form of cancer that will kill him he has 2 choices. Take chemo to give him another 6 months but in the doctors words an option which will drain him or be tough (not the doctors words his own conclusion) and live out his remaining weeks on his own terms.
He makes his way to Pine Hill, a lodge for hikers where he intends to ‘escape’ the prison of New York City and be free and by himself, something he feels he needs to do. He’s made peace with the people he needed to make peace with, saw his friends one last time, closing his loose ends. He didn’t need to, but this is the type of person he is, he wanted his affairs in order. There’s even a nice sentimental moment in there during a walk through the streets, not obvious but that’s what the film is all about.
The film is layered with meaning, mortality being the face of the story and how a very normal and unique man deals with death, especially at such a young age. What it means to everyone and the things you would do when faced with your own mortality. It’s also about coming to peace with yourself and your past. Shannon is a reformed drug dealer but he hadn’t seen his mother in a while, something he tries to put right. He never has the heart to tell people that he’s dying, whether he decides he doesn’t want the fuss or more likely that he wants to tackle this alone, just as he discusses with a man towards the later stages of the film. There’s also a message about social classes, and how different people are in different backgrounds. We see this quite a lot during the film. Shannon’s initial meeting with Mr. Miller, a scene in a bar he bounces at. Shannon seems to come to life the most when he’s around his old gang but even here he now seems out of place, whether he was naturally like this or his illness changed him he’s very quiet, reserved and keeps to himself.
Rating: It’s a refreshing and interesting take on a film but the ending might leave a few members of the audiences slightly frustrated (5.1/10)
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