| Evelyn | |
| Producer: | Joanna Natasegara |
| Cinematography: | Franklin Dow |
| Distributor: | Netflix |
| Runtime: | 96 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
Evelyn is a 2018 documentary directed by and starring Orlando von Einsiedel. The premise revolves around Orlando's own family dealing with the effects of a suicide that took place 13 years earlier by Orlando's brother Evelyn, by taking a series of long walks visiting landscapes Evelyn liked to walk when he was still alive.[1] [2]
It was released Netflix on 10 September 2019.[3]
For large parts of the film, the camerawork appears to require an operator walking backwards. In fact the cameraman, Franklin Dow, had created a special camera rig that sat on his back with a stabilising mechanism. A screen in front allowed him to watch what was happening as the family/cast members walked behind chatting.[6]
The musical score was mostly composed by Patrick Jonsson who had previously collaborated with von Einsiedel on Virunga and The White Helmets.[7] One song was contributed by Evelyn's sister Gwendolyn Einsiedel, a musician in her own right who remembers singing almost every day during the making of the film, though very little made it onto the final cut.[7]
Evelyn premiered at the 2018 London Film Festival.[8] [9] It screened on BBC Two on 18 May 2019[10] and was released from 10 September 2019 on Netflix. Reviewers described the film as a raw, powerful look at a family trying to make sense of suicide.[11] It was chosen as Best Documentary in the British Independent Film Awards of 2018.[12]
Some reviewers have suggested that the film might be powerful enough to save the lives of those considering suicide,[13] GQ pointing out that suicide is now the single biggest killer of young British men and suggesting that Evelyn might help break the code of silence that tends to surround the subject. The film's website provides support links to help services including The Samaritans and Calm and reproduces a poem from The Smoke Jumper[14] by Nicholas Evans, best known as author of The Horse Whisperer (novel).