Change Your Image
silvayuki
Reviews
Spielzeugland (2007)
moving
***This review may contain spoilers***
The short film Toyland is a story about a German family and a Jewish family. Since this film doesn't go chronologically, audiences need to keep paying attention to understand it. For example, at the beginning, aa boy is gone and his mohter goes ot find him, but next scene is very different situation. Also, this film shows how the discrimination against Jewish people by German people was like. In the film, Jewish people are insulted by police as if ther are not humans. In additon, they are taken to "Toyland." This is a secret language that the mother uses to her son. Definitely, "Toyland" is Aushwitz. I have seen some pictures of it and I was shocked by the disastrous scene. One thing I couldn't understand was the scene that German boy and his friend's father who is Jewish are talking about their secret. I couldn't get what the "rhinoceros" means. Overall, this film was very goodfor me since it was moving and let me think about the history.
The Lunch Date (1989)
funny
The short film The Lunch Date is a story about a middle-aged woman who is selfish. Since the image of the film is black-and-white, it seems to be a little bit old. In the film, some black people appear and most of them look poor. I think this means that racial discrimination against black people was horrible when the film was made. At the beginning, the woman bumps into a man who is black and her stuff get scattered. He tries to help her, but she refuses and even complains to him. From this scene, I understood she is a racist. Then, she goes to a restaurant and the scenes in this restaurant are very interesting. I wonder why the black guy who eats his own salad does not complain to her. He even buys her a cup of coffee. He is a very kind guy. I think this is nice comedy film.
The Crush (2010)
far from reality
The short film, The Crush is the story about a boy who likes his school teacher.
As a first expression to this film, I thought it is far from reality since very brave boy beats an adult with a toy gun. In reality, definitely few children can behave bravely just like as the boy. However, there is no doubt that this is the interesting point of this film.
When the teacher gets a ring from the boy at the beginning, her attitude is like she just goes along with him. On the contrary, I thought she recognizes the boy as a man in the end of the film.
The man who is the fiancé of the teacher is described as a man of tragedy. He pleads for his life against a child and gives up the right to marry to the teacher. What a coward man he is. I think he becomes a good assistance to make the boy look better.
J'attendrai le suivant... (2002)
interesting
***This review may contain spoilers***
The short film I'll wait for next one is a story about a middle-aged woman. It starts from a scene that the woman walks in a street lonelily. When she goes down escalator, she stares at a couple who are cuddling each other on the next lane. After this scene, I understood that she is single. After she gets on a subway, a man appears and starts to speak to everyone on the subway. Everyone listens to his talk with curiosity. He says he is looking for a lady to get married to him. He introduces himself seriously, but everyone laughs. His talk gets the woman's attention and makes her smile. And then, she believes him and get off the train. In the end, she despairs since she is embarrassed by his joke. The facial expression of the actress is amazing since it shows the woman's sadness perfectly. I think the woman she usually feels too much loneliness since she tries to date with a strange man. Overall, this short film describes a lonely woman very well.
Born with It (2015)
nice one
The short film Born with it is a story about a boy who is half Japanese. It shows a typical example of racial discrimination. The students judge the boy's status only by his appearance. They say he has AIDS since his skin is black and stay away from him. These behaviors are cruel because they break the victim's life. Most of the cast are children in this film, but their acting is very good. Therefore, I was able to feel the cruelty of such behaviors clearly and I felt uncomfortable even though it is a fiction. In the world, discrimination has not disappeared yet. When I go study abroad, I may be discriminated by someone or see other people is discriminated. Then, I would like to have confidence in myself and fight against it since discrimination is not eliminated if I surrender. This short film gives me the opportunity to think about such an important thing.
Gasman (1997)
difficult
***This review may contain spoilers***
The short film Gasman is a story about two scottish families in Christmas. As a first image to this film, it was very difficult to understand the whole factors. In each family, there are one boy and one girl. In the middle of the story, one girl says "my father's knee." The other girl hears it and they have a fight. From this scene, I thought the father divorces with a woman and gets married to another woman. However, I could not know what their relationship in the Christmas party is and why the girl stops in the end. Perhaps she understands who they are. In addition, the actors' English was very difficult for me to listen to. I thought I need to get used to listen to various accents of English. Overall, this short film was very interesting for me since it shows the complex feeling of the father.
The Mass of Men (2012)
astonished
***This review may contain spoilers***
The short film The Mass of Men is a story about a middle-aged man who needs money to live. This film starts from an image of a security camera. Since the image is without sound, I could not understand what is going on. After that, the detail is revealed. The man really needs money for his life, but because of his three-minute lateness, the woman in the office refuses to give him money. Then suddenly, a stranger appears behind the man and he kills the woman and other staffs with a nail machine. I think this way of murder is crueler than gun shooting. It made me remember another movie, Final Destination 3 which is a horror movie since a woman dies because of a nailing machine in the movie. I think the murderer in The Mass of Men has the same problem as the man who is the lead character. This film was shocking rather than interesting for me.
A Moment (2012)
sympathize
The short film, a moment is the story of people who are struggling.
People live while they have something like anxiety or distress. The film reminded me of it.
At the beginning of the film, I did not find the theme of it, but in the middle of the film, I understood when I saw the clock which shows 2:46 p.m. The theme was the earthquake in March 11th, 2011 which caused a huge damage to the east and north area of Japan.
My hometown, Sendai city in Miyagi prefecture also suffered huge damage since the center of the earthquake shock was off the coast of Miyagi. At that time, I was sixth-grade of elementary school. When I was cleaning the gym with my friends, the shock struck us. The gym made a very big noise because of the shock and I thought it was the end of the world. Though I did not lose my family and relatives, I lost landscapes of my familiar places. For example, my mother's hometown, Taro town in Iwate prefecture which has a very long breakwater was hit by tsunami and became a pile of rubbish after the earthquake. I felt a big sense of loss and fully realized the cruelty of natural disaster.
Those who in the film seem to have a bigger damage than me. They lost their family, but they overcome the tragedy and advance to their future. I was encouraged by their action.
Three Days in Kamakura (2012)
heart-warming
***This review may contain spoilers***
The short film Three Days in Kamakura is a story about a married couple who reconfirm their bond through the few days with a child.
At the start of the film, I understood that their situation is not good since the husband's expression is gloomy and the wife gets up after waiting for his going out. I thought that the husband tries to change the situation, but the wife cannot accept it.
Although I could not get the cause of the tense situation between them, I could only know that the husband is serious and kind from his attitude toward his job.
Also, I thought it was very interesting that the radio news which is casually played in the film becomes the key of the story. Audiences need to listen carefully in order to deeply understand the story.
The end of this film seems like a sad ending, but it can be a happy ending since the couple's relationship gets better and they are reconciled with the woman next to them.
Father and Daughter (2000)
Nice one
***This review may contain spoilers***
The short film, Father and Daughter is a story about a daughter who is waiting for her father.
First of all, I think the music matches the atmosphere of the story, so audience can easily be involved in the film. Also, I think the depictions of the film such as the color and shadow express loneliness and emptiness well.
Referring to the content, the father hugs his daughter tightly and kisses her in the beginning. Audiences can understand that they are to split up for a while from his actions. And then, the father leaves her and goes away, but I could not understand why he leaves, in other words, the purpose of his paddling. After that, the daughter goes back to the same spot repeatedly and waits for her father, but he never shows up. From such actions, we can understand that she loves him very much. Therefore, the loneliness audiences feel becomes stronger.
In the middle of the film, even his bicycle is gone from that place. I think this implies that he's never coming back.
In the end, she finds out that his boat was sunk in water. After that, she is dead in the same place as her father and finally meets him again.
Overall, this film is a kind of tragedy, but when we consider their meeting again, it ends happily.