Curiously included on a preview DVD I acquired of upcoming 2008 theatrical releases was this winner of a Short Film competition organized by the British magazine “Total Film”. The premise is very simple: a young man on a bus, caught in a traffic jam on a rainy day, is driven up the wall by his fellow passengers’ obsession with cell phones. He cracks up, beats the boy sitting next to him to a pulp, threatens others with a gun, and searches furiously in the other people’s various bags for every offending ringing phone. Eventually, it transpires that all of this is just a dream – except that there is a cellphone ringing, which is bugging the hell out of the remaining passengers on the bus…and it’s the protagonist’s! This is a modest but clever little 6-minute film, with the tight editing its most notable element.
2 Reviews
A stylish build of tension and madness
patricknewton-0478013 October 2019
I was shown this on my BFI Course by the filmmakers of this short; here are my thoughts...
This short from the offset captures the feeling of everyday life, which is definitely one of it's strongest points. It feels raw and realistic. From the moment I was introduced to the main character on the bus, and the atmosphere surrounding him, I was engaged. The slow building descent into madness was done masterfully, with careful editing and well placed special effects. The storyline was so investing to me, I didn't even notice the minutes fly by. The filmmakers never divert the focus away from the protagonist, instead organically building up the world around him. The camerawork and overall feel of the film is very rough, which I think suits the tone of the film perfectly.
A very well made short, and the best short film I've seen in a long time!
This short from the offset captures the feeling of everyday life, which is definitely one of it's strongest points. It feels raw and realistic. From the moment I was introduced to the main character on the bus, and the atmosphere surrounding him, I was engaged. The slow building descent into madness was done masterfully, with careful editing and well placed special effects. The storyline was so investing to me, I didn't even notice the minutes fly by. The filmmakers never divert the focus away from the protagonist, instead organically building up the world around him. The camerawork and overall feel of the film is very rough, which I think suits the tone of the film perfectly.
A very well made short, and the best short film I've seen in a long time!
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