Dull and unoriginal. Two steps away tells the story of young love in the gauzy haze of a California spring afternoon. Or so the synopsis would have you believe. In actuality, it is a cheap Jacques Demy rip off, and about eight minutes you are not getting back.
Filmed in the canals of Venice, CA, Two steps away focuses on a young man enjoying a lovely spring day scribbling away in his notebook. When suddenly, unexpectedly, a beautiful young lady appears. She sits across the canal from him and sketches away in her notebook. He then stares at her…at her lips, at her hands, and at her knees. Her perfect, porcelain, peerless knees. The camera stays on the knees for a very long time. When another young man sits beside her, and it is clear they know each other, so our hero bows out gracefully and heads away. Only to find a special surprise waiting for him.
Two steps away is part of the early work of freshman director Gabriele Fabbro, so perhaps we should grade him on a curve. He picked a lovely location, he managed to keep the camera in focus, and he told a coherent story. Um….yeah I think that’s all I can say positive about this short.
He picked a lovely location, he managed to keep the camera in focus and he told a coherent story…
From the get-go, it is clear that Fabbro has no real voice of his own. The look and the soundtrack are meant to invoke the work of great French directors, but there is no sense of personal vision. Two steps away feels more like a film student assignment than an actual story or a sketch of fruit from a first-year art student rather than an oil portrait of a professional.
"…tells the story of young love in the gauzy haze of a California spring afternoon"
