A homeless man gets to stay at a five-star hotel.
THE TRACK is used with permission from Louisa Connolly-Burnham. Learn more at trackfilms.co.uk.
Grace is a volunteer at The Track, a day shelter for rough sleepers in London. When the shelter receives a donation in the form of a night's stay at a five-star hotel, they give it to Nate, a former teacher and immigrant who has fallen through the cracks, and it becomes Grace's job to bring him to the hotel and get him settled for the evening.
But when Grace and Nate head to the hotel, they have a hard time checking him in, claiming that the names don't match exactly on the reservation. When Grace later finds Nate sleeping on the street in the brutal cold, she invites him to stay at her boyfriend's home, only to discover that her efforts might have been for naught in the morning.
Directed by Louisa Connolly Burnham from a script written by Augusta Woods, who also plays the pivotal role of Grace, this powerful short drama confronts the harsh realities of people who are homeless in a direct, visceral way, tracing how one moment of prejudice and judgment against them has far-reaching, devastating implications.
Grace is an observer, and through her eyes, the sensitive, documentary-like storytelling captures the small but telling moments and details of the day shelter where she works. Some of the rough sleepers are mentally ill; others seem lonely and isolated. Together, they make up a microcosm of the "have-nots" of society. Nate, however, stands out for his intelligence, kindness, leadership and lucidity, and the shelter decides to give him the donation of an unused night's stay at a five-star hotel, figuring he would not take advantage of it.
The writing has a keen eye for the pointed ways that prejudice peeks out from underneath the polite veneer of social interaction, which comes out especially when Grace goes with Nate to check him in, only to be confronted with an intransigent receptionist who refuses to admit Nate, citing a technicality that the names on the reservation don't match up. When Grace angrily calls out the receptionist, we also see the pain that Nate experiences as the prejudice against him is brought out in the open. Actor Wil Johnson plays Nate with innate decency and groundedness, and we understand what it means -- and what it costs him -- to extricate himself from the situation with calm and dignity.
Grace, too, goes on her way, meeting up with a friend. But on her way home, she discovers Nate sleeping on the street and deathly cold. Breaking protocol to help Nate in any way she can, she arranges for him to stay the night at her boyfriend's home, but in the morning, she discovers the cost of a night of sleeping on the street in the winter cold. Based on a true story, THE TRACK ends with a devastating conclusion, pulling no punches with its moral outrage and its reminder that those without homes are still people, with stories and names -- and like any other human being, deserve dignity and respect, no matter what the circumstance.
24 мар 2023
