By Allegra Papera
Contributing Writer
Sunscreen Film Festival’s Shorts Block Five was an hour-long time block on Friday, October 6 that offered South Bay residents an opportunity to watch local filmmakers’ work. The time slot featured short films including D’Arline, The Utopians, and One Hell of A Party.
D’Arline is a period piece based on the true story of a Cornell University physicist and former member of the Manhattan Project, Richard Feynman, who struggles to develop his own scientific theory in the midst of his wife Arline’s tragic illness.
The animated comedy One Hell of A Party tells a story about two college roommates who, after accidentally summoning a demon, have to find a “pure soul” to sacrifice in hopes of saving themselves from going to hell.
Lastly, Russian-language film The Utopians is a story about two friends: Fedor and Andrey. Fedor had supposedly won the lottery and traveled the world, but Andrey soon discovers that he had been lying, and that he had been battling with cancer the entire time.
Shorts Block Five, despite its small audience of four, managed to impress those in attendance with various genres, offering something intriguing for all kinds of film-lovers. However, the quality of Shorts Block Five suffered with its presentation of The Utopians, a foreign-language film without subtitles.
The most impressive aspect of the Shorts Block Five was the extremely convincing costuming for the 1940s period piece, D’Arline. The actor playing Richard Feynman donned a suit and a waved comb-over that made him look like a transplant straight out of the World War 2 era, captivating viewers and offering them a seemingly accurate portrayal of the time period.
“D’Arline” also impressed with its unique subject matter, zooming in on Feynman’s loving relationship with his wife both before and after her death. Viewers were able to watch the couple interact while Arline was sick in the hospital, and after her death when Feynman would continue trying to communicate with her through love letters. This noteworthy perspective intrigued viewers as it gave them a look into the more personal aspects of a real person’s life.
The animated short comedy One Hell of A Party was strategically timed to play right after D’Arline, giving audience-members a much needed opportunity for laughter after the rather melancholy film. One Hell of A Party’s college-aged characters’ sarcastic attitudes interacted well with the big, intimidating demon who threatens to alter their lives forever. Their nonchalance while interacting with him earned a fair share of laughs from viewers.
Despite the many positive attributes of Shorts Block Five, the inclusion of the Russian-language film The Utopians turned out to be a huge mistake. While the film may have had beautiful cinematography, it certainly did not make up for the fact that none of the audience members could understand the storyline without subtitles. Audience-members were left bored confused for the 20-minute duration of the short.
Ultimately Sunscreen Film Festival’s Shorts Block Five was successful with its diverse display of films, each of them leaving lasting impressions for a variety of different reasons. However, the time slot undeniably suffered a huge dent in quality due to the lack of subtitles to accompany The Utopians.
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