"A Life on the Farm" - Fantastic Fest Film Review
“I don’t know where to even begin with this story” is the line uttered by director Oscar Harding that opens A Life on the Farm. If one knows nothing about the movie except the title, that opening line may feel dramatic or out of proportion. What could it be about a man, Charles Carson, and his homemade movie about his life on Coombe End Farm that could produce such a baffling story?
It turns out that the story of Charles is more than a documentary about his day-to-day life. A Life on the Farm is a blend of traditional talking heads and footage from Charles’ homemade feature-length film, Life on the Farm. Those who speak about the life of Charles are a mix of neighbors who knew him and people who have dedicated their lives to movies made from and about actual found-footage.
Sonderbar Pictures Ltd
More than a look at the eccentricities of Charles and his DIY-filmmaking efforts, A Life on the Farm is interested in the way humans handle loss, grief, and death. For as long as humanity has existed, there have been rituals surrounding death. It could be the Greeks with their coins for the Ferryman, Ghana’s traditional dances and drum circles, the three-day-long Chinese visitation before the funeral, or any of the multitude of ways humanity tries to make sense of this unknowable, inevitable ending. Charles’ Life on the Farm is no different. As much as he focuses on death, he’s equally interested in life. Charles celebrates the flowers that have been growing on his farm since his mother was young, the birth of twin cows, and the joy he finds in creating this film. It’s easy to write Charles off as a strange, lonely man who did nothing other than live on a farm, but to do so would be to unfairly simplify him and his work. Beyond the thematic elements, Charles was a filmmaker. He added special effects, voiceovers, and intensive editing all completed on his own. It’s an impressive feat of filmmaking.
At first, the seemingly cavalier way Charles handles death is unsettling. He films his brother’s funeral, has a photoshoot with his mother’s and father’s corpses, and includes a cat’s funeral in the film. Yet Charles’ Life on the Farm was born out of loneliness and the fundamental human need to document one’s existence. It’s not just his own life that he documented, but the world and the people he knew. Charles made individual edits for each person he gifted a copy to. Oscar’s grandparents received a version that contains the only footage that exists of Oscar’s grandmother, which is priceless to him. It’s an unexpected gift that Oscar’s family will always cherish.
Sonderbar Pictures Ltd
A Life on the Farm is an ode to humanity. Life, death, collaboration, creativity, and community, all wrapped up in the enigma that is human existence.
Follow me on BlueSky, Instagram, Letterboxd, & YouTube. Check out Movies with My Dad, a new podcast recorded on the car ride home from the movies.