THE PENNY BLACK – SLIFF Review

THE PENNY BLACK screens as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival November 5th – 22nd.Ticket information for the virtual screening can be found HERE

The twisty, head-spinning investigative thriller “The Penny Black” begins when Will, the estranged son of a conman, receives a stamp collection putatively worth between $1 and $2 million from his enigmatic Russian neighbor, Roman, who asks him to hold the stamps while he’s on a two-week trip. Far from a close friend, Will knows nothing of Roman beyond his first name. In fact, the sole basis of their relationship is a conversation that the two had while smoking outside their mutual LA apartment building while a drunken Roman downed canned liquor. The filmmakers hear this outlandish tale from Will at a dinner with mutual friends shortly after he receives the stamps, and they ask to start filming to see what occurs. As it happens, Roman is absent for far longer than two weeks, and after several months pass, Will leaves the apartment building to move in with his girlfriend, taking the stamps with him. Questions abound: Given that Will has no contact information for Roman — not even a last name — what will he do with the stamps, which are in fact quite valuable? Is he potentially in any danger? The film then takes another whiplash turn when a significant piece of the stamp collection goes missing, forcing the filmmakers to re-examine Will — a slippery, elusive character throughout — and his capacity for honesty. Los Angeles magazine writes: “‘The Penny Black’ tells an impossible-to-look-away-from story.”

Review of THE PENNY BLACK by Stephen Tronicek:

William J. Saunder’s The Penny Black is a case study in the way that association can create tension in Film. The story and the players are simple: Will is left with a bag of expensive stamps by his neighbor Roman. In the ensuing days, Roman disappears. Throughout the course of The Penny Black Will attempts to find Roman. 

    The steps of Will’s journey aren’t, on the surface, particularly compelling. Will goes to stamp conventions, visits a private investigator, and even has to have a run-in with an old girlfriend. Much like most long-term tasks, the name of the game is monotony…but the film never actually feels that way. 

    This is achieved simply by Saunder’s and crew, who decide early to frame the whole event through Will’s past experience. Much of the early runtime of the film is made up of Will describing the experiences he had with his con-man father. Through the trauma that he inherited from it.

    In the interest of documentary storytelling, this achieves two things: 1. It paints Will as a sympathetic protagonist and 2. It creates a framing device of tension for the entire film. Introducing this information creates the idea that these stamps could be a con job. Because the personal stakes of a con job are so high for Will, the personal stakes for the audience are high. By framing the rather monotonous process of the search for the Roman this way, The Penny Black becomes a compelling mystery. 

    A story of the mundane oddity of the world, The Penny Black is a great documentary to study for the framing of documentaries. Documentaries have to be dramatically compelling and Saunders and co. should be commended for making this one so.