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Corporate life, and regular life overall, is not easy. I think it's safe to say that many of us, especially when reaching a certain age, have questioned "the purpose of it all"; what are we doing here? what's the point? What most of us probably haven't experienced is having an ostrich confront us with that thought... or who knows, maybe you have. Anyway, that's the main premise of this clever short film.
However, the short takes an interesting approach to it. Set almost in its entirety in a miniature office set for stop-motion animation, the film makes a constant effort to remind us that this is a film, that it is all fake (or "a sham", as the ostrich would say). The short focuses on Neil (Lachlan Pendragon), a salesperson at this office struggling with his dwindling toaster sales as well as a sudden existential dread; something that is heightened by the overnight visit of an ostrich.
This was certainly a clever twist on the "everything is fake" trope. The ways in which director, writer, and animator Pendragon transmits that feeling of "artificiality" are really inventive and well thought-out. By showing most of the action through the actively recording director's monitor or having the figures mouthpieces fall off unexpectedly, it all helps to put forth that theme of how everything is made up because it's a film, but also juxtaposing it with Neil's role within this artificial set.
All of this are just immensely creative ways to invite us to question our surroundings, but also to question those that incite that questioning and their purposes. Like the ostrich says, question *everything*, which includes questioning the ostrich itself. After all, the world is not quite what it seems.
Grade:
AN OSTRICH TOLD ME THE WORLD IS FAKE
AND I THINK I BELIEVE IT
(2022, Pendragon)
AND I THINK I BELIEVE IT
(2022, Pendragon)
"Question everything, young man. The world is not quite what it seems."
Corporate life, and regular life overall, is not easy. I think it's safe to say that many of us, especially when reaching a certain age, have questioned "the purpose of it all"; what are we doing here? what's the point? What most of us probably haven't experienced is having an ostrich confront us with that thought... or who knows, maybe you have. Anyway, that's the main premise of this clever short film.
However, the short takes an interesting approach to it. Set almost in its entirety in a miniature office set for stop-motion animation, the film makes a constant effort to remind us that this is a film, that it is all fake (or "a sham", as the ostrich would say). The short focuses on Neil (Lachlan Pendragon), a salesperson at this office struggling with his dwindling toaster sales as well as a sudden existential dread; something that is heightened by the overnight visit of an ostrich.
This was certainly a clever twist on the "everything is fake" trope. The ways in which director, writer, and animator Pendragon transmits that feeling of "artificiality" are really inventive and well thought-out. By showing most of the action through the actively recording director's monitor or having the figures mouthpieces fall off unexpectedly, it all helps to put forth that theme of how everything is made up because it's a film, but also juxtaposing it with Neil's role within this artificial set.
All of this are just immensely creative ways to invite us to question our surroundings, but also to question those that incite that questioning and their purposes. Like the ostrich says, question *everything*, which includes questioning the ostrich itself. After all, the world is not quite what it seems.
Grade: