Shoulder The Lion

"Shoulder The Lion" is an ethereal exploration of the human spirit and our individual, relentless determination towards creativity even in the face of profound personal challenges. Released in 2015 and directed by Patryk Rebisz and Erinnisse Rebisz, the film treads the unconventional path of blending documentary and surreal cinematic manipulation to tell the stories of three artists who have been pushed against the wall by life-altering events that threatened to stifle their passion and creative abilities.

At the soulful heart of the film are three unique journeys embodied by the real-life figures of Katie Dallam, Alice Wingwall, and Graham Sharpe, who passionately champion music, photography, and boxing against their crippling personal hurdles.

Katie Dallam, a former social worker turned through-the-ranks fighter is the literal embodiment of a survivor. She was severely injured in a boxing match which was later the inspiration for Clint Eastwood's million-dollar baby, but her story did not end there. Katie, despite the monumental physical and mental obstacles thrown at her, turned to the healing efficacy of art and started producing heart-gripping, expressively wild paintings.

Alice Wingwall, a photographer and sculptor based in Berkeley, California, had her world turned upside down by the onslaught of a degenerative eye disease that left her almost fully blind. Undeterred by this seemingly crippling challenge and armed with her inexhaustible spirit, Wingwall continues to create reverberating pieces of visual art that protrude far beyond her physical limitation, having honed her skill to see the world through her other senses.

Graham Sharpe, the third character, is an Irish musician constantly struggling with the incessant, high-pitched ringing in his ears caused by severe tinnitus. Unable to escape the dizzying noise and on the verge of going insane, Sharpe battles his condition through the cathartic release that playing music provides. Navigating his new world, Sharpe goes on to absorb noise as part of his art rather than a hindrance, resulting in a unique, unconventional take on music.

At its core, "Shoulder The Lion" is an atmospheric blend of pure cinema magic and raw, human paths of continuity in the face of adversities. It uses stylistically bold techniques mixtures of cinema verité, poetic reenactments, multi-layered sounds, and immersive visuals to amplify the internal mental processes of our protagonists and their struggles, creating a rich sensory experience for the audience. The film is unparalleled in its contemplative confrontation with the artistic spirit.

The filmmakers further extrude the subjects' stories with ethereal, painted scenery pacing the narrative and underscoring the allegorical elements of the featured life stories. Unconventionally, it plays with surreal narrative and visual elements and often leans closer to a visual poem more than just a narrative or documentary storytelling, submerging the audience in an almost transcendental understanding of the pain and beauty that composes the creative journey of these three artists.

The movie does not focus as much on their past as it does on the present struggles of these creative souls, highlighting their resilience, perseverance, and acceptance of their new reality within their artistry. "Shoulder The Lion" becomes not just a film about overcoming personal traumas but also an invocation of art's power to provide solace, identity, and meaning amongst the struggles of life.

In their first foray into long-form cinema, the husband and wife filmmaking team, Patryk Rebisz and Erinnisse Rebisz, create a masterful cinematic experience revealing the indomitable will of the human spirit to create and express, even when their fundamental senses, typically required for their artistic medium, fail them.

“Shoulder The Lion” serves as a deeply touching meditation on art, resilience, what it takes to leverage obstacles into inspiration, and ultimately, the profound undefinability of the human spirit. It's a love letter to the arts emphasizing their essential role within the vast human landscape. Whether you’re a fan of documentaries or feature films, "Shoulder The Lion" is an unmissable exploration into humanity's unyielding capacity for creation and endurance.