Two men come up from the beach carrying a large wardrobe between them. They come up into the town but not only find that accommodation is difficult to come by with their wooden travelling companion but also that both women and men shun or mistreat them.
It was very strange to watch this early short from Roman Polanski, watching it as I was in the Rainbow pub in Birmingham as part of the 7' Cinema screening - it felt like it was a mix of modern and classic. Certainly the soundtrack alone had a mix of `old' music and scenes with pumping base, not sure if the version I saw had been remixed in some way. However, the film and the subject matter is still the same over the years.
The essence of the film came to me to be acceptance of the different. Here we have a couple of guys who clearly stand out as different from those they encounter. The reactions they get are ones of refusal, dismissal or ignorant violence; all pretty much as a reaction to the sight of the wardrobe. While this is a pretty basic message, and one that doesn't explain every scene, it does work well as an amusing comedy as well as the subject.
The cast are OK but have to overact a little bit as a result of not having any dialogue and having to express emotion and meaning a lot more through looks and reactions to others. The end of the short is a slightly depressing judgement on the basis of society, however that doesn't mean it doesn't have an element of truth to it. What it sadder is that the judgement is becoming truer with each passing year.
It was very strange to watch this early short from Roman Polanski, watching it as I was in the Rainbow pub in Birmingham as part of the 7' Cinema screening - it felt like it was a mix of modern and classic. Certainly the soundtrack alone had a mix of `old' music and scenes with pumping base, not sure if the version I saw had been remixed in some way. However, the film and the subject matter is still the same over the years.
The essence of the film came to me to be acceptance of the different. Here we have a couple of guys who clearly stand out as different from those they encounter. The reactions they get are ones of refusal, dismissal or ignorant violence; all pretty much as a reaction to the sight of the wardrobe. While this is a pretty basic message, and one that doesn't explain every scene, it does work well as an amusing comedy as well as the subject.
The cast are OK but have to overact a little bit as a result of not having any dialogue and having to express emotion and meaning a lot more through looks and reactions to others. The end of the short is a slightly depressing judgement on the basis of society, however that doesn't mean it doesn't have an element of truth to it. What it sadder is that the judgement is becoming truer with each passing year.