In the U.S, in Illinois to be precise, somewhere back in 1997 there was a band that started its journey. It was called ‘American Football’, and from 97 to 2000 they released one ep and one album, both named ‘American Football’. Even though the name doesn’t seem to say it, their lyrics were very grey and emo, giving the listener a general feeling of regret and unbounded tear fountains, without being exaggerated in any way. The same feeling we got whilst watching ‘The Rose Garden', a film that looks exactly like the movie made out of the first album of the previously mentioned band.
“So let's just pretend/ Everything and anything/ Between you and me/ Was never meant” – if you have seen this short movie, then you will know what we are talking about. If haven’t watched this movie and listened to this song, you know what this movie is all about. The lyrics are from the song ‘Never meant’, and they seem to o symbiotically with ‘The Rose Garden’.
The title ‘The Rose Garden’ is the perfect metaphor of the narrative of this short. The rose garden is seen from a different perspective, remembered as it used to be in the summer- colorful, with great perfume, lively; and now, as they speak, it seems like they are facing it in the winter, where the flowers are gone, the leaves are gone, where there is no color, but only some brown branches that are shaking in the wind. A great metaphor for the past love, the love that never got to be, a love that now only exists in photos and fading memories; the two main characters portrayed by Victoria Ratermanis and David Joseph Volino are very well drawn, expressing deep and sincere emotions through all the states they are going through, giving this short a powerful yet sensitive vibe. Karl Fernandez, the director, did a great job in making the viewers empathize with the characters and care about them.
We were surprised by how deep and sentimental this short turned out to be, and as we’ve said in the beginning, we never expected it to be this close to one of the best and most underrated albums of the past years.
Written by Vlad A. G