Cashback is a short-length movie made in 2004, written and
directed by Sean Ellis, and produced by Ellis and Lene Bausager. And it is awesome. An incredibly witty, thoughtful and touching
look at the tedium of life in a supermarket and one intelligent young man’s mode
of dealing with it, Cashback manages
to convey a great deal in its short run time -17 minutes in total. Ben, played by Sean Biggerstaff, works the
graveyard shift at Sainsbury’s to earn his way through his Art degree, and
during the film he explains the problem about working in a supermarket – that time
passes incredibly slowly – and the differing ways that the night shift team
have of dealing with the daily grind. Biggerstaff
performs, and narrates, brilliantly as the monologizing protagonist who
imagines stopping time and walking around the frozen customers, drawing the women
nude.
Characters are portrayed surprisingly well in this short space of
time, Stuart Goodwin as the supervisor, Jenkins, being a great example from the
minor roles, as well as the female lead, Emilia Fox, and the star of the show,
the protagonist Sean Biggerstaff.
The film also exhibits impressive use of a brilliantly
chosen soundtrack including Bolero and Beethoven’s sublime Sonata No. 14 in C
Sharp Minor, better known as the Moonlight Sonata. The clever juxtaposition of different scenes
in the supermarket used in tandem with the great soundtrack make this a truly
enjoyable piece of cinematography. The
fact that the Moonlight Sonata is so overplayed in films makes it quite
impressive that its use in Cashback
doesn’t feel monotonous or copied.
Rating: 5/5
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