In the poetic Somewhere With No Bridges, director and writer (alongside writer Nico Bovat) Charles Frank frames Martha’s Vineyard as, on the surface, an idyllic haven with its bright colors, smiling tourists, and pleasant beaches. The vivid spirit of this seaside town was deeply felt in his deceased cousin, a beloved local fisherman Richie Madeiras, who had a strong connection with Frank's father. But the town’s swirling shores hold the dark secret of where Richie disappeared in 1999.
Somewhere With No Bridges is a cinematic eulogy that adheres to more of a video essay format rather than a structured documentary. It is an exquisite tone poem on the communal and familial ripple effect of our lives. Blending artistic collages and traditional documentary interviews with family and friends, Frank uses Richie’s story to explore the imprint we leave on one another's lives long after we are gone.
In one particularly elegant sequence, backed by composer Jeff Melanson’s elegiac score, Frank intercuts between constellations of tiny, elated moments in time captured on home video with repeated shots of the brass ring game on a spinning carousel. This montage emphasizes how powerful photography and video are as permanent records of our fleeting existence; they create a stillness in the constant motion of our lives, making our fragile memories tangible.
Frank’s heartfelt and painterly direction dexterously captures the imperceptible singularity of his subject and the island he treasured. The languid, sweeping shots of the coastline are breathtakingly gorgeous, especially the shot of two fishermen beneath a rainbow. Frank uses the specificity of this taciturn New England fishing community to craft a universal reflection on grief, memory, and time. His stunning film finds as much beauty in silence as the patient and moving voice-over narration. Hypnotic and truly inimitable, Somewhere With No Bridges is a meditative paen for a soul that once touched the earth but lives on in the salty sea air. Editor's Choice.
Included in our list of Best Documentaries 2021.
