Search - Art of the Short Film on DVD

Super Shorts

Lee Armstrong | Winterville, NC United States | 07/29/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a very satisfying collection of short films by Film Movement. Of the three shorts that were nominated for Oscars, my favorite is an entry from Australia called "Inja aka Dog." It is about a South African farmer who brutalizes a boy's beloved pet dog as punishment. Years later, there is a stunning reversal as the dog bars the boy from assisting the farmer. The other two are clever animated/claymatian pieces. "Mt. Head" is from Japan about a man who eats a cherry pit and has a cherry tree grow out of his head. The animation is clever. From Germany "Das Rad aka Rocks" shows the centuries-spanning existence of two rocks who watch weather come & go, scrape moss off their backs, and watch the progress & regression of human society. "Sangam" from USA/India was a moving piece about an immigrant to New York from India who meets a man from near his village while riding the subway. The unusual bond they quickly develop highlights the loneliness and difficulty of reorienting to a new country. "The First Three Lives of Stuart Hornsley" from the USA shows an inventor who travels through time and sometimes makes things worse rather than better. "Deathdealer" stars the rock band's Henry Rollins as an assassin with a killer's touch and is rather spooky. This is a good collection of short films. I miss the fact that cinemas rarely show them anymore. This is a good source for 6 quality short films. Enjoy!"