Title:  Vanished Acres

Director:  Adam Bolt

Date saw the show:  August 17 2007
Place saw the show:  Calgary Fringe Festival (www.calgaryfringe.ca), Alberta, Canada

3 stars

Reviewed By: Emily Axelson

Vanished Acres – PG. Warning: Disturbing Content (USA-34:00 Drama Horror, Adam Bolt – Director) An old farmer discovers that his deceased wife had an affair with their scarecrow, revealing a haunted past.

When I first heard about Vanished Acres, I thought the idea was just TOO far fetched, and then I stopped to think of all the films I’ve seen in the past that seemed far fetched but ended up being outstanding. These are films such as, Donnie Darko, and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. I think it’s a very interesting idea, but I can’t say I entirely understood it. The scarecrow had loads of symbolism, and that seemed to be key to the telling of Vanished Acres.

A farmer is spending a typical day on his farm, caring for his crops. He pauses for a moment to tell his scarecrow about the tomatoes. At first the scarecrow remains in it’s original position and doesn’t move, but after a few seconds he lifts his head and responds. Later on that day, the farmer finds an old note from his deceased wife, apologizing for having an affair. The farmer is furious, but unaware of whom this mystery man is. In the letter it mentioned a messenger, and when the farmer asks the scarecrow what he knows about the situation, considering he’s been watching for all these years, the scarecrow states that he does not know. After the farmer leaves, the scarecrow asks one of the crows to retrieve the letter so he can see it. The farmer finds the crow, and realizes that is the messenger she spoke of. The farmer explodes in a jealous rage and seeks revenge on the scarecrow.

If the symbolism of the scarecrow would have been a little clearer to the film, I think I would have enjoyed this much more. The acting, however, was very dramatic and promising. This film got many nominations from the Calgary Fringe Festival; some were well deserved, and others were not. I strongly agreed with the nomination for best lead actor in a mid length film, but I was not convinced that it was worthy of a best mid length film nomination. Overall this was a fascinating film to watch but did seem to have a strong enough underlying theme to make the scarecrow a clear symbolism of Vanished Acres.