Artur Klassen / Germany / 22 minutes
Synopsis
A strange doorman welcomes the seekers and hands them each a key tailored to them. The opening of the magical door finally heralds a journey. Confronted with your hidden longings and fears, the border to reality becomes increasingly blurred.
The film begins with a woman hiking in the woods. After she passes an old TV containing a burning fire, she suddenly comes out of the forest and walks in the street where is located the doorman’s booth. You pay him with what you have so you can access the Door. Other inhabitants of the city will come here to give it a try. Nobody will experience it the same way…
From the first minute, « The Door » is special. The director immerses us in an uncommon world. For that, he’s got several nice tools: creative blend of live action and computer animation, powerful sets with good props that always tell something, frugal use of dialogues. In a flash, each character gets identifiable. The editing brilliantly manages to switch between situations, to take its time, and also to have fun with a few narrative effects.
To top it all, the scenario brings its share of surprises… Refreshing details (dust connecting two scenes, little girl cutting an umbrella) and symbols (piping issues, newspapers) punctuate the story, while some sequences turn out to be really impressive (the spider, the TV, the monster). We would love to show these cool pictures in this article, but we won’t, to keep the viewer’s experience intact.
It is also pleasant from a technical point of view: the unique mixing treatment (especially with the sound effects) deepens the universe, and the image has got nothing much to be blamed for, except rare out-of-focus shots.
Fun fact: end credits literally give hints about the film’s themes. Even lost viewers will be able to leave with the right keys!
Conclusion
Artur Klassen’s short-film hits its mark— it is intelligent, poetic, humanist, and plays upon enthralling artistic ideas. An unmissable work within our selection.
G.W.
« The Door » joins official selection for the Little Croco Festival’s first edition, nominated in the Experimental category.
Trailer:
Commentaires