A short documentary that takes a look at an old-fashioned lumber mill that is situated in the Sierra Nevada, this is The Mill by Charley R Williams.
Here, at Screen Critix, we always appreciate the time spent creating film. Whilst the quality of each production and end result can vary by extreme measures, with some being amazing to some being very poor, we appreciate the effort put into each and every one. It’s also great when we are sent documentary films, to offset the abundance of fictional narratives we are sent all the time. Here, with The Mill, we get to spend just over eleven minutes on a traditional American lumber mill, and although the subject is not one that I would actively go out of my way to watch, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed every minute.
Opening with an older gentleman keeping a giant furnace lit by placing spades of kindle in it. We were then given a chance to see how a great traditional lumber mill works, and it was all rather fascinating. The mill, which was opened many years earlier by two brothers, still works as it did all those years ago. There’s no modern technology here, but incredible steam engines and hard-working individuals putting every drop of sweat into keeping the mill going strong.
Williams, who we believe is completely new to the documentary world, does brilliantly well to keep the film going and our interests up. The film never lingers on a shot for too long. In fact the two opening shots of the man at the furnace are the longest shots in the whole film. Instead, we get to see gigantic tree trunks put into place, and large circular saws cutting them down to size. We also see a little history of the mill, with pictures of the people who have worked there over the years placed over footage of machines, woods, and mill exteriors.
While all this is seen, we are given a narration by Wayne Thompson, who, we have to say, has the perfect voice for narrating films. He would also do very well as a voice-over artist on movie trailers.
The end credits were a little slim on details regarding all the crew who worked on the film, so one can only assume that Charley R Williams took up the roles of editor and cinematographer as well as his directing and producing roles. He did very well in all aspects.
In his notes, Williams stated that he wanted us to review the film as he wasn’t sure if it was a good enough product to submit to film festivals. Our answer to that question is, yes, it will definitely find a home on many festival screens, especially documentary specialist festivals, and, who knows, it may pick up a few awards along the way.
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