Doodlebug (1997)

Director:

Christopher Nolan

Writer:

Christopher Nolan (writer)

Genre:

Short | Fantasy | Mystery

Plot Keywords:

Ambiguous Ending | Cycle | Alternate Dimension | Abstract | Forced Perspective

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Jeremy Theobald

...

The Man

Runtime:

3 min (DVD)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Movie Connections:

Edited into Cinema16: British Short Films (2003) (V)

Rather obvious but effective enough for the short running time

A man is trying to catch some sort of bug running around his room. He takes his shoes off and intends to crush it under the heel of his loafer. However as he slowly begins to track the bug down and trap it, things chance dramatically but the man continues his course of action. Before Nolan hit the big time with several successful motion pictures, he made this short while studying English at University in London. It is rather atmospheric and is enjoyable for that reason.

The plot is interesting at the start and has a nice twist at the end which is pretty obvious once you see it being set up, but this isn't too much of a problem because there are only a few seconds between set up and delivery, so you're not wasting time being led somewhere you have already arrived. It is very much a student film as it thinks it is cleverer than it is and it seems like the sort of idea you have when you think that nobody else would ever think the same way – but this is just an observation, not so much an attack.

In terms of atmosphere the majority of the film really works; grainy black and white, dark rooms with bright intrusive light spread sparingly across the room and 'things' moving rapidly around our main man. It does just enough to feel like it is building to something but not so much that the ending will be a disappointment.

Overall it is worth seeing mainly because of what its director has gone on to do since this. As a short film in its own right it is atmospheric enough and with an interesting premise to the point that it is worth a few minutes of your time; but the ending is not as 'out of the blue' or as clever as Nolan must have thought it was at the time – happily he has gone on to much bigger and better things since!