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Chung Hing sam lam (1994)
If memories could be canned, would they also have expiration dates?
Chunking express is one of Wong Kar Wai's masterpieces. The narrative is split in two: the first part portrays scenes of the life of a cop, a guy who was dumped by his girlfriend and keeps eating pineapple while waiting for her to come back; and a woman, a drug dealer that coordinates a group of Indians that transport the drug to outside the country. The second part has as main character a girl that works at her uncle's snack bar and dreams about going to California; and a police officer that was, as the one from the first part, dumped by his girlfriend and keeps suffering and waiting for her. All those characters live their lives in a busy Hong Kong. All of Kar Wai aesthetic marks are visible in this film: the use of lighting to dye the shots with deep colors, in case of this film, blue and green; a catching soundtrack with theme songs for each character and plot; the use of a narrator that gives voice to character's thoughts; a lot of tracking, slow motion and fast motion; and characters with strong personalities. The main theme that surrounds this film is the idea of time limit, or expiration date - there are many elements related to this theme, and the narrator keeps wondering about it. Also, what calls my attention is the contrast between female and male characters. While both male characters have been dumped by their girlfriends and the only thing they do is sit and wait for them to come back, the female characters are strong and independent. They are powerful; they travel around the world and follow their dreams. Chunking Express is a very artistic and deep film, and certainly one of my favorites.
Kairo (2001)
Ghosts and people are the same
Kiyoshi Kurosawa's horror films are known for the uneasy atmosphere that surrounds them, and for the tension that is present in each scene. The director does not aim to merely scare the audience, relying on easy techniques such as the use of jump scares. Instead, he combines soundtrack, cinematography and misè-en-scene elements in a way that makes us feel like something will appear to scare us at any moment, and this expectation is never fulfilled. It feels like there is something observing us hidden in any shadow that appears on the screen. All of this makes watching a horror movie made by Kurosawa a nerve wracking experience. Kairo portrays characters trying to survive in a world that has been invaded by ghosts that travel through internet. Every time someone goes to the "forbidden room", a place sealed by red tape and inhabited by a ghost, this person goes crazy and commits suicide. However, we soon learn that the ghosts are not the horrifying part, but the message they carry. Ghosts are invading the real world neither because they aim to haunt nor to kill: they just do not have anywhere else to go. And when they meet a living person, what drives this person crazy is the message from afterlife that the ghost tells them: that after you die, nothing will change; you will stay the same as you were when alive. In other words, you will be alone for the eternity. Through the film we watch those people who have met the ghosts become lifeless and disappear into shadows while they ask for help. Some of them do not even actively commit suicide - they just slowly disappear, as if they were ghosts. Random computer screens show people who are alive but behave as ghosts. The main theme of this film is solitude, and one of the main characters states at some point that "in fact, ghosts and people are the same".
Underground (1995)
Energy, intensity, and dark humour
I was completely amazed by the energy and ambiguity of this film. It manages to be extremely funny, disturbing and depressing at the same time. Backy and Marko, two guys fighting to support the Communism against the Nazism, are living their lives intensely. They steal, they drink, they fight and they are frequent costumers at brothels. It seems that the reason why they are bravely fighting against the Germans is lass because of ideology and more because they want to see some action, and they are only by chance fighting on the Communist side. On the first part of the film, named War, the Germans are attacking Yugoslav, and after having the city bombed, the citizens find shelter underground. The second part, named Cold War, takes place 20 years after the first incident. Because both Backy and Marko fall in love for the same woman, in order to marry her, Marko makes Backy and all the people living underground believe that the war is not over, and that they should stay underground and trust Marko to bring information and food. Finally, the third part, named Civil War, portrays the civil wars in Yugoslav and the effects of the decisions made by the characters on the first and second parts. The first and second parts are marked by the presence of an orchestra playing in almost all shots. It gives a hallucinating and dynamic rhythm for the scenes. All the characters are well constructed and have strong and intense personalities - sometimes it feels as if all of them are on the verge of craziness. The use of dark humour to deal with such a heavy theme as war produces intense effects on the audience - at the same time you can't avoid laughing, you feel guilty for laughing at such a sad theme. Emir Kusturica was heavily criticized for providing an unfaithful portrait of the war. However, his aim was not to portray the war faithfully, but to give his own interpretation of the war. It seems that the critics who rely on this point are not aware that it is intended to be a work of art, and not a documentary.
Born with It (2015)
Born with it
Born with it, a short film directed by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour, brings to the screen a theme that is not often discussed: the prejudice against half Japanese living in Japan. It tells the story of a half Japanese half black young kid attending his first day at school. As soon as he enters the room, a classmate states that since he is black, he probably has AIDS. From then on, not only he is not recognized as Japanese, but he is also avoided by other children, since they believe he is sick. The last scene is particularly touching: before entering the school, he faces his reflection on the door's glass, and when he goes inside, the shot stays fixed on the place he was before, and we can hear a sea of whispers - the whispers that this kid will have to live with during his whole life. This short film reminds me of a Japanese film - Swallowtail Butterfly, that, in a more comic way, portrays a character that, even though he was born and raised in Japan and can speak only Japanese, since both his parents are American, he is never recognized as Japanese. In the case of Born with it, Keisuke has to deal not only with the fact that he will always be seen as a foreigner, but also with racial prejudice. The prejudice raised by the fact that Japanese society denies anyone with physical characteristics different from the standard, and the impact of this point of view on people's lives is an issue for Japanese contemporary society, and this short film portrays it in a clear way.
Terry Tate, Office Linebacker (2002)
A comedy
Terry Tate, Office Linebacker is a comedy whose comic elements rely on the absurd situation of an American football coach working as a line-backer on an office. The short film has neither plot nor narrative: it is constructed as an interview with the president of the company where Terry Tate works mixed with scenes from inside the office. The president talks about why he decided to hire Terry and about how the performance inside the company has been increased because of his actions. On the shots of the daily life inside the company, Terry appears attacking people who are not following the rules. The idea is pretty simple, and it works as a comedy because of the absurd: after seeing a guy playing on his computer while he was expected to be working, nobody expects that the next shot will be an American football coach attacking him and screaming. This technique of inserting an element in a place where it is not naturally expected to be is common to comedies, and it is an easy way of catching the audience's attention.
Spielzeugland (2007)
A sensitive portrait of the WW2
Toyland discusses a theme that has been discussed several times on different films: the Second World War. However, what makes this short film special is the sensibility of this portrait. Instead of showing the explicit violence of the war, it touches the audience by showing two kids - a German and a Jewish, who are best friends and are going to be separated because the Jewish boy's family is going to be sent to a concentration camp. In order to avoid shocking the young German boy, her mother says that his friend is going with his family to Toyland. The depiction of the effect of war through the eyes of kids is not something new: in a completely different tone, Janos Szasz has done the same in his adaptation of The Notebook, a novel written by Ágota Kristof; and The boy in the Striped Pyjamas has a similar story. However, even if the theme is not new, Toyland is still a surprisingly intense short film. It mixes scenes of the mother looking for her son after the Germans had taken the Jewish to the concentration camps and flashbacks of what happened before this - how close the two kids were and how the German boy decided to follow his friend to Toyland. And the plot twist at the end makes the story even more dramatic. Second World War is a sensitive topic, and it is amazing when we find a director that was able to portray it in such a touching way.
Embers (2006)
The impact of the war
Embers, a short film directed by Marc Laureano, tells the story of a woman who is waiting for her husband to come back from World War II. While waiting, she suffers from nightmares, most of them featuring a samurai, since her husband is fighting in Japan. The narrative structure of this somewhat psychological short film is very interesting. Firstly, because it shows how the wife slowly falls into despair while waiting for her husband - she is constantly disturbed by visions of the stereotyped figure of the enemy that her husband was fighting against. Next, when her husband finally returns, after a brief moment of relief and happiness, we can see the wife becoming even more disturbed when she realizes that the war has changed her husband. For me, the most interesting point of this short movie is that it shows how cruel war is, without masking it as a fight against the evil. At the beginning, the wife believes the image of the samurai, representing the Japanese army, to be the villain. However, when facing her husband, she realizes the horrible deeds he has done during the war. He was not a hero fighting against the enemy - he has killed, tortured, and he does not regret it.
The Crush (2010)
An uninteresting short film
The Crush, a short film directed by Michael Creagh, tells the story of a boy who gives his teacher a ring and ask her to marry him. The teacher, considering it a joke, accepts, but then problems start when the kid finds out that his teacher has a real fiancé. In terms of story development, the film is somewhat predictable, and the plot twist at the end is not convincing. Moreover, the flow of the narrative and dialog lines do not sound natural, but artificial. For instance, when the kid meets his teacher in front of a shop, the ring on her hand would be enough to show that she is engaged, but still she says, after an unnatural dialog concerning the kid's boots, "I've got something special myself" and shows him the ring. One of the possible reasons for this film's artificial atmosphere is the fact that the actors deliver they lines in a somewhat flat way. Also, when the film attempts to build tension at the end, it does not work. Not only the dialog is so obvious that becomes uninteresting, but also the change in character's emotions seem implausible. Finally, the decision taken by the teacher at the end, and the kid's response, were maybe supposed to sound funny, but they just gave a uninteresting ending to a film that already had a uninteresting development.
Otousan no tabako (2007)
The Errand
The Errand, a short film directed by Shohei Shiozaki, tells the story of a young girl that finds herself in a difficult situation: her father, dying of lung cancer, asks her to buy cigarettes for him, but every time she tries, she is scolded by her mother. The character of the young girl is interesting, and the actress that plays her does such a good job that it is unavoidable to sympathize with her. Her journey to find a cigarette after losing the money she receives from her father is heart-warming and touching. It shows that she is able to go to incredible lengths in order to fulfill her father's "last desire", even if she knows it is something that would make his health worse. On the other hand, if the main character is well constructed and the acting is good, the plot itself is somewhat moralizing. In this sense, it was as if the film was part of a campaign against smoking. At the beginning, the family is fighting because the father wanted the young girl to buy cigarettes; and at the ending, when the father gives up on smoking, the family reunites in peace. In this sense, even if the characters are complex, the plot could have more layers of meaning, instead of a flat message.
Whacked (1998)
A catching narrative
"Whacked!", a short movie directed by Rolf Gibbs, starts by portraying two different situations: firstly, pedestrians dropping to the ground of downtown streets because they are hit by objects falling from above. Next, a man driving a truck that collect golf balls on a driving range. Over the course of the short film, the viewers will be able to understand the connection between these two events. The editing of the film is intriguing: they make use of neither colors nor soundtrack. It is a black and white movie; and without music, the sounds produced by the actions held on the scene are highlighted. Moreover, another interesting feature is the suspense resulting from the fact that the first scenes raise questions that will only be answered at the end of the film. Camera positioning is also noticeable, the use of close-ups on the scenes with the driver not only portray his feelings and reactions, but also produce an atmosphere of mystery, since the audience, at the beginning, is unaware of both the source of his reactions and what attitude he is going to take next. Whacked! Is a production with unusual features and with a catching narrative.
Three Days in Kamakura (2012)
A portrait of loneliness
Three Days in Kamakura tells the story of a couple that face a difficult situation: they have to take care of a kid because his mother never appeared to take him at the English school where the main character works. However, it is implicit that the couple has lost a child in the past, and they still want to build a family. Hence, they have two possibilities: keep the child as their son or look for his mother. The most catching points of this short film are the themes that it discusses, such as loneliness, death and family issues. It is possible to identify three storylines: the couples life, including the events that happen during the film and also the ones that the viewers can infer from their past; the little boy and his missing mother; and finally, at the end, it is revealed that the neighbor that appeared as a secondary character during the story also has her own troubles and worries. The way in which the characters have to choose between what they want to do and what they need to do is touching. Moreover, the ending is particularly interesting: three characters, united by their pain and loneliness, get together and carry on.
Fish Out of Water (2005)
A nonverbal short film
Fish out of Water tells the story of a man who goes to work rowing a boat in order to avoid the craziness of city traffic. However, a beautiful woman who invites herself to take his boat, and the increasing number of new visitors, change his calm daily commuting to work. The photography work on this film is noticeable - all the scenes are dyed on a yellow tone, and since it is a silent movie, it is possible to see how the sequence of events affect the characters through their expressions, highlighted my medium shots and close ups. This effect is very important, for example, to suggest romantic interest between the woman fishing at the pier and the protagonist, and to show the protagonists growing displeasure as the number of people on his boat increases. Moreover, there are a few key scenes that are repeated during the narrative: the protagonists house gate opening; the old couple greeting the protagonist; and a close up on the moment when he throws his bag - and all the other objects afterwards - when arriving at the pier, for instance. This repetition gives the idea of routine. Finally, the soundtrack is also an important device for this work. Characters emotions are conveyed not only through their expressions, but also through the music that is playing. Fish out of Water is a nonverbal short film with a simple plot and interesting editing work.
J'attendrai le suivant... (2002)
An interesting short film
J'attendrai Le Suivant, a short movie directed by Philippe Orreindy, tells the story of a man who enters a subway car and, asking for everyone's attention, claims to be in search of true love. One of the women in the car seems to be interested in what he is saying, but then a plot twist results in an unexpected ending. Regarding the editing, it is interesting how the camera follows the woman before she enters the subway car. The sequence of shots of her face and feet give the feeling that she is walking towards something. When she is going downstairs, she stares at a couple kissing, so we can infer that she was thinking about love, relationship matters, which are the main topic of the man's speech. Moreover, when the man is speaking, close ups of the woman's smiling face keep appearing. Thus, it gives the impression that the man and the woman are somehow connected, which makes the unexpected ending even more shocking. Finally, the dialog between the man and another man who suggests that he would give him his wife's phone number, since she is only after money, and the man's answer - that he is looking for real love, and not a match, makes his speech sounds more sincere. In only 4 minutes, this film manages to catch the viewers' attention, make them create expectations, and then break the expectations through a plot twist.
Father and Daughter (2000)
Touching and beautiful
Father and Daughter is a touching short movie that tells the story of a girl who was abandoned by her father on an early age and kept waiting for him during her life. The narrative consists of a series of scenes of this girl in different periods of her life, returning to the same place in which her father had abandoned her - a slope near a river. The animation itself is eye-
catching. The characters are always riding bicycles, and most of time they are only shadows sliding through a pastel colored background. Therefore, when a color is applied - when the girl is wearing a blue dress, for instance - it is highlighted contrasting the background. Moreover, the whole narrative is built without a single line of dialogue. Thus, visual storytelling and music have capital importance for the narrative flow. The narrative itself is beautifully portrayed: the sequence of scenes shows not only the girl growing up and passing through life stages, but also people who were important for her, as the number of shadows sliding through the scenery changes. The ending as well was heart-touching. In my opinion, it was a simple plot portrayed beautifully, with a striking art and satisfying soundtrack. All the elements were well placed and it succeeded in conveying sentiments. That said, Father and Daughter is certainly a film worth watching.