Three Minutes: A Lengthening

Originally Premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival in the Spotlight Selection.

"Three Minutes: A Lengthening" is about a snippet of 16mm film offers an emotionally charged, meditative glimpse into the lives of the unsuspecting Jewish citizens of a small Polish village at the precipice of World War II. Director Bianca Stigter uses an entire 16mm film to offer a nostalgic experience about the topics of WWII and the Jewish people and it was an interesting take on researching and covering the topic from a cinematic lens. The presentation is well presented with really good uses of archival footage used throughout the entire film. The footage helps to add a feel of the past, the old days and what it must have felt like during the WWII years.

Helena Boham Carter's narration does provide the information nicely and her voice fits the scenario pretty well. However, the documentary does feel like it's a bit stale since the entire film is using footages, which does get a bit old at the end of the film. The pacing really really does drag and because of that, it made some parts unsatisfying and not as engaging as I was hoping for. Certain sound designs were noticeable that had some poor structures and some editing could be improved. In my opinion, this would have worked as a short film rather then being a feature limit film.

Overall, It's interesting to see a documentary about the Jewish people's lives in Poland from old archival footages but I feel like it was a little underwhelming by the end of the day. But I still recommend for those who are interested.

Rating: B-