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asselinbeelzebuthjr
Reviews
Lifted (2006)
How not to abduct a man
This story was about an alien and his trainer teaching him how to control the spaceship to abduct a man from his house.
Having unsuccessfully tried to control with many switches, would he able to obtain the man into the spaceship?
This short movie made me think about some aspects; if every switches are branded, would the results be different? Or would preparation (i.e. Man in house shutting the window, or the aliens having knowledge in advance changed the difference?
Fish Out of Water (2005)
Don't take an advantage for granted
Fish out of Water is a short film about a man who rows a boat from his home
to work, in order to avoid severe traffic congestion on the way to the
city. He is familiar among local residents around his home, as well as
office workers. One day, a lady asks him to offer a ride on his boat
to work. However, the next day, another man asks him to offer a ride
along with her, with the number of workers wishing to travel with him
gradually increasing.
One day, the man, who is upset by lack of manners by fellow
travellers, swims all the way to the city, giving a fish to a woman
fishing every morning on a port.
The message given by this short passage would be the following; don't
take everything you have around you, especially advantages you
deserve, for granted, and that selfishness can upset people around
you, and you might end up finding yourself in trouble.
J'attendrai le suivant... (2002)
What is real and what only ends up as a joke
This film is set on a subway in France. A single woman is travelling home, presumably after a long day's work. On the subway train, she encounters a man named Antonio, who claims to be 29 years old, single, giving a speech that he wants a partner. At the other end of the train, there is a man arguing against him, telling that it is nonsense. The woman, persuaded by Antonio, decides to leave at the next station, only to find out that it was all staged. Back in high school, I remember getting involved in a similar situation, where my best friend got into trouble, forcing him to leave class, but some students persuaded the teacher to bring him back. I also asked the teacher along with some "decoys", which was a quite embarrassing, but somehow memorable event. This passage might be portraying the gap between what is real and what only ends up as a joke, showing the outcome of how it ends up after taking these jokes seriously, as well as implying that "public" derived would not last long, both from the fact that the woman was tricked, and the action of "bystanders" arguing against Antonio.
Knick Knack (1989)
Knick-Knack
Knick Knack is a Pixar animation made in 1989, six years prior to the
famous "Toy Story". The short animation features "souvenirs" from
various places, and while most souvenir characters" are
free, the snowman in a snow globe, or a snow dome, is trapped. After
serious unsuccessful attempts to get out of the globe, he ends up
knocking his globe off the shelf, and before falling onto the ground, he
successfully exits through the "emergency exit" which is on the
bottom of the globe, ending up in the fish bowl, next to a mermaid
statue. However, he gets trapped again by the snow globe through the earlier
"emergency exit".
This story is "three-art structure", consisting of opening,
turning points and climax. Otherwise, it was similar to Japanese "ki,
sho, ten, ketsu", or opening, reception, turning points and
conclusion, with the former two possibly being the "opening".
I also found that the computer graphics were advanced back in the
year 1989, as well as the background music, whichI believe to be an
acapella, without the use of instruments.
Spielzeugland (2007)
Would the woman be able to find her son?
Toyland is a short film set in Germany under holocaust. In the movie,
a woman looks for her son. While she is looking for her son in every
places, the scene changes to child's daily life including playing
piano and looking for a place called 'Toyland'.
The title 'Toyland' and the setting of holocaust gives audiences many
ideas, whether if it is a secret land only open to child and his
friends, or a place where you can go to escape from the reality of
persecution by Nazi force as Jews.
The setting may be disturbing for some people, but I would recommend
this short film alongside other movies based on Nazi forces during
world war II, such as 'The boy in striped pyjamas' and 'Life is
beautiful'.
Born with It (2015)
Accepting differences
"Born with it" is a short film set in a countryside in Japan. The story features Keisuke, a boy with black skin color. As he transfers to a school, he gets bullied by other classmates, eventually getting ignored by other students, fearing that he has AIDS. However, one boy asks to play with him.
He then goes to a doctor and takes the HIV test, finding out that he is negative, and convinced by doctor that skin color is not the cause. Mother said that his father, who passed away had also experienced prejudice by the surroundings, but ignore other people's judgement. He returns to school where a boy who played with him, and the group of other students were glancing him out from the upper floor classroom window and then the story ended, leaving the conclusion to the audiences' imagination.
This was rather gloomy and sad story, and watching this story reminded me of the case when a Half-Arabian boy in Japan got bullied after the 9/11 attack in reality - since "foreigners", or people other than Asian ethnicity are rare in Japan, such student from school would stand out. This story might have been set in the early 2000's with the existence of laptop and cellphones, before bullying problems in Japan were regarded as a problem like in the modern Japan. This means that pressure to conform would have been stronger than now, and given that it is set in countryside with low population, the prejudice against foreigners would be severe.
Prejudice and discrimination against black people are notoriously a social problem, and this story was no exception. However, something that needs to be kept in mind is that this context could also happen to other ethnicities, such as aforementioned Arabian, or even white ethnicity, especially with blond hair, with latter being sometimes frightened. Bearing in mind that the title is "Born with it", Keisuke could have achieved a happy ending by convincing the other children that he does not have AIDS, and is therefore harmless, or otherwise, to have teacher convincing the children to accept the differences and discourage any bullying.
Three Days in Kamakura (2012)
'Three days'
The short film 'Three days in Kamakura' is about David, a British man and his Japanese wife Keiko, a family living in a seaside town. The story deals with the aftermath of a fatal train crash. While they are
having a hard time over troublesome neighbors, work and
relationships, they have to look after a child from a kindergarten
where David works, as his parents didn't turn up to pick him up.
During the short film, minimalism is used, and the majority of
backgrounds are left to the imagination. What would the "three days" from
the title suggest? Is it the days spent in Kamakura, or a
reference to Christ's resurrection? The fact that this story is set in
Japan also made the derailment more tragic and relevant to characters
in the settings; for "three" families as suggested from the title.
This story is set in a densely populated area, where connections
among people are intimate and many people are likely to be travelling
by rail transport compared to any other suburbs of major countries. If this story was set in the seaside town in the suburbs of London or New
York, it would unlikely be this tragic.
"Three days" can have a lot of meaning to many different people, as
this film suggests. It would also be the duration for the "normal"
everyday to get lost, as the derailment in this film and the families
of Jay and Mrs. Yamada imply in the story.
Father and Daughter (2000)
"Father and Daughter".
"Father and daughter" was a short animation starting with a man and
his daughter travelling to an anchorage by bicycle. After arriving,
father sailed away by boat leaving daughter behind. Later, the
daughter rode a bicycle several times, travelling to waterside,
sometimes with people who were thought to be her friends, and family.
She also passed by many different people cycling.
The water eventually dries up, turning into a plain field. Eventually,
an elderly woman, who obviously is the daughter, parked her bicycle on
the "anchorage" and walked through the field only to discover an
abandoned boat, ending up lying down inside it. She then runs,
gradually turning "younger", as she approaches her father standing in
the fields, concluding the story with a reunion.
The animation itself might have been symbolizing "life" after
becoming independent from loved families, from the comparison to
cycling over a hill, during various weather conditions, as well as
symbolizing memories and encounters symbolized through aforementioned
characters travelling among the daughter in addition to people passing
by.