Bait is the gift cinema lovers covet, the surprise I myself was after when I went to see it even though all I knew was that on the poster towered a big beardy face like those I like. The kind of men who survive because of their rocky hands, wellies on their feet to keep steady on slippery surfaces.
Martin fishes for lobsters with a boat that no longer exists in a place where times are threatening the identity of a generation, the legacy of the previous. It’s on today’s raped Cornwall, snatched from its inhabitants and sold to holidaymakers, that Mark Jenkin—a Cornish himself, and very vocal on the matter of gentrification—solo writes, directs, photographs, develops, and virtuously edits. Behind the nostalgic tingling of the 16 mm grain of a Bolex camera, he captures with a tragicomic sense of irony some rather perfect performances, conveying personal and collective frustrations, and ultimately giving shape to a truly unique piece of work.
