Matthew Porterfield’s Take What You Can Carry is a simplistic character study with profound truths. Running only 30 minutes in length, not much happens on the surface of Take What You Can Carry’s story, though under the surface the film is a meditative examination of creativity, personal space, loss, and communication. The film follows Lilly, a North American living abroad, who has grown accustomed to her own personal intimacy. Lilly values her privacy, something which fuels her own creativity of her performance art, showing very little interaction with those around her. Lilly struggles with connection with the outside world, unable to articulate her feelings related to the loss of one of her parents. Her art is her release from the tension and sadness that she feels deep in herself, and perhaps one of Take What You Can Carry’s greatest attributes is how it captures the importance of creativity in providing solace and comfort. Take What You Can Carry’s overall experience is cold and sedated, with Porterfield capturing a character in Lilly who couldn’t be more alone, no matter how many people inhabit the same space as her. For me, the film is really about the struggle between personal fulfillment and social interaction, as Lilly as a character struggles to express herself to others, relying heavily on her own performance art as a way to express herself. The film captures the importance of communication and articulating ones own thoughts and feelings, something which the character of Lilly struggles with. Cold, opaque, and fascinating, Matthew Porterfield’s Take What You Can Carry is a fascinating character study of a woman who struggles to express herself to others, relying on her creativity to fuel her emotional release.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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