Fallon's Angler Issue 17 and new Film

[PeteD]

Another great Fallon's Angler film. Congratulations to Nick and all those involved. Excellent film making.

[Robbi]

Can’t see it having that much of an influence on anybody really.
Interesting character though & nice film

+ 1

[Dave Burr]

I enjoyed the film and respect any man's wish to opt out. However, few manage to do it without some financial backing, the modern world just doesn't accommodate the Middle Ages bartering approach to life without some cash being proffered from time to time. Dorset is full of Huge Furry Wishingpool clones each having spent many hundreds of thousands of pounds on their conversion to a 'simpler life'.

I too could see the down side. The howling gales ripping through his tarpaulin roof, the leaks, the mud and of course, the isolation. Does his family care about him and keep in touch? Most important of all, how long can he keep going? But maybe he has it all worked out and is genuinely happy to live and die by his beloved loch. Good luck to him.

I watched another 'Opt Out' film last evening about a guy who had suffered an illness, which sounded very similar to the breakdown I had 25 years or so back, and the long recovery. He decided to build a mobile home and and, with his raging hot partner, spend months at a time next to European lakes. His life seemed idyllic but he always had a home in the UK to fall back on.

It's an interesting tale of recovery, discovery and running away from/running to a way of life. Not a cane rod in sight but some interesting thoughts about his ethos and the life and death of Norman the pigeon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zvfKwoX_8Y&t=14s

[Kev Parr]

Thanks all for the input - and thank you for the link, Dave - I'll take a look at that when I get a moment.

I can take no credit at all for the film, having had absolutely nothing to do with it, but know Nick and Garrett will really appreciate the comments.

I don't doubt that Del''s choice of existence gets increasingly testing as the weather worsens and time begins to cause restriction. I know he is in regular contact with his daughter, but Nick will likely know much more as to the extent and also Del's future circumstances. Nick is away at the moment but will, I'm sure, drop in with some of his thoughts.

[Hovis]

I watched the film prepared to be Wow-ed. I was disappointed, worried and slightly annoyed.

I liked the way it was filmed and presented. The music was great.

I was disappointed by the telling of a story which might encourage others to aspire to an alternative life style. It was very romantic, the scenery, dogs, horse and cottage in the woods. It gave the impression that he lives as an Outsider "away from the main current". In my opinion that is irresponsible. If the film had shown the winter rain, the mud and snow, the lack of services and the occasional journey to the shop/garage for food and petrol it would have been balanced.

I was worried for his health and mental state. Old age and illness will eventually force him back into the main current.

I was annoyed because I got the impression that if it were not for him fishing, this film would probably not have been made. We have an ex-serviceman who lives in the forest. He has a house but he chooses to live as a down-and-out. Nobody has made a film about him. There are hundreds of homeless people with drug / alcohol / mental illnesses and their lifestyle is not an aspiration.

Living 'off grid' is not something we should encourage.

Nigel, yours are strong words indeed, but clearly thought through and rational.

Personally I feel we have no right to judge or make assumptions based on a delightful, if short, little film. Is the situation realistic? Staged even? It really doesn't matter does it. In my eyes it captured very well some of the spirt of Del and his life. He got buildings, fire wood and structure - hardly scraping an existence. Yes, it failed to show those, no doubt frequent, trips for supplies and fuel but, and it's a big but, would it have made a difference? Would it have seemed less "appealing" possibly, but some of that magic would no doubt have been lost if it was included. If it's his choice let it be. Make no mistake people who embark on such journeys are unlikely to do it without substantial consideration and if they do, they aren't likely to do it for long.

In my eyes the social conventions of "modern" society such as get a job, buy a house, be a success need as much, if not more, warning to those likely to enter into it.

Long live escapism, freedom and the drive to reject the path most trodden say I.

[Nigel Rainton]

Hovis,

Well said.

[JimmyBobkin]

I enjoyed the film. Quite a character but someone please sack the bloody banjo player

[Nigel Rainton]

By coincidence I've just watched a few minutes of Ben Fogle talking to a University drop out who lived on the streets for several years, got pregnant and her parents bailed her out with money for a cottage in the Swedish mountains.
It reinforced my views above.

[Barbulus]

Many thanks Kev for the update on Issue 17.

I read the last one on a long haul flight only recently having saved it to enjoy and it helped put the work life "balance" back into perspective over the many hours courtesy of British Airways.

[Wallys-Cast]

I enjoyed the film. Quite a character but someone please sack the bloody banjo player

totally agree.

Wal.