Low & Clear

Friends J.T. van Zandt and Alex Hall share a passion for fishing, but are as different from one another as night and day. For J.T., fishing is a form of meditation: he finds peace on the water. For Alex, fishing means constantly chasing the kick of ever bigger fish. He has had himself photographed with his catches thousands of times. The way they fish reflects the two men's characters, and this resonates in the way the film is made. When the camera follows J.T., everything is soft and slow, both in terms of sound and images. When the focus is on the unpredictable Alex, the succession of jerky shots is almost impossible to keep up with and we hear the deafening sound of a chainsaw. During a winter fishing trip in Canada, the two adventurers find out that their lives are drifting further and further apart. On the water surrounded by the snow-capped Canadian mountains and in the stuffy little motel room, the differing lifestyles and characters of the two men increasingly clash. The documentary is a humorous and moving portrait of two headstrong men who won't admit they are locked in fierce competition with one another. Will this be their last fishing trip together?