Mild Peril Video Club : Vigil (1984)

Vigil (1984) ★★★★★

Part of the Mild Peril Video Club, 2nd degree

A brilliant film. Magical in the true sense. Reminds you that every event can and should be seen as a moment of magical significance. I think this is perhaps the definition of a child’s viewpoint in a film, even here where many scenes take place without the child present. It reminded me a little of The Falling, and I watched Monos the other day which put me in a similar mood but in a very different film. The setting kind of takes it out of time. Why does the girl never go to school? Doesn’t matter! Shot after shot could be framed. Just so great.

• To watch this (in the UK at least) you will need to either buy it on disc from Arrow, or stream it via the Arrow channel on Amazon.

• This review on Letterboxd.

• The (New) Mild Peril Video Club, 2nd degree - a better version I’m currently working on.