If you like emotional films and wish to find yourself weeping stupidly over a short... this is the one for you.
I find most shorts annoyingly lacking in script and plot-- and I admit this short is not "fully filled in". But it doesn't have to be. We don't need the back story, the reasons, the explanations to get the point of this simple statement. Nor do we need the writer / director (in this one case) to explain to us their entire thought process behind producing this as they did.
Usually I deplore "lazy" production teams leaving big gaps and holes in a story, leaving it up to the viewer to deduce the overall meaning. In this case however it works, splendidly. The CGI is very well done, the actors well-chosen (especially the robot; her face is ideal for the part). The beauty of production is eclipsed only by the rather astounding question of what is reality here and what isn't. (Was it a real or staged rock concert, was the robot ever really on stage or was that added in later, how many people were involved in producing this?). A film that succeeds in blurring the lines between fantasy and reality to the point the viewer can't tell which is which is rare. That this film actually makes that blur part of the story itself is masterful.
I rarely rate short films highly, usually because they're just rotten. This was splendid. I give it 8 rather than 10 stars only because it was limited in length and story line (ie, it isn't 10-star "above-and-beyond perfect"). It deserves every bit of 8 stars... and possibly a bit more.
I find most shorts annoyingly lacking in script and plot-- and I admit this short is not "fully filled in". But it doesn't have to be. We don't need the back story, the reasons, the explanations to get the point of this simple statement. Nor do we need the writer / director (in this one case) to explain to us their entire thought process behind producing this as they did.
Usually I deplore "lazy" production teams leaving big gaps and holes in a story, leaving it up to the viewer to deduce the overall meaning. In this case however it works, splendidly. The CGI is very well done, the actors well-chosen (especially the robot; her face is ideal for the part). The beauty of production is eclipsed only by the rather astounding question of what is reality here and what isn't. (Was it a real or staged rock concert, was the robot ever really on stage or was that added in later, how many people were involved in producing this?). A film that succeeds in blurring the lines between fantasy and reality to the point the viewer can't tell which is which is rare. That this film actually makes that blur part of the story itself is masterful.
I rarely rate short films highly, usually because they're just rotten. This was splendid. I give it 8 rather than 10 stars only because it was limited in length and story line (ie, it isn't 10-star "above-and-beyond perfect"). It deserves every bit of 8 stars... and possibly a bit more.