Movie Murmur

(My foray into the short fiction format) A still from 'Mani Bhai Pass Hogaya? (Did Bother Mani Succeed?) A short film can be a fiction or a documentary work; or it might simply be a non-fiction work. The three forms could well have a thin line of difference, one might argue. Agreed. Simplistically speaking, a fiction film is one which has an enacted story; and by and large the documentary uses real locations and characters. What then is a non-fiction short film? One that does not have a enacted story or that which does not use real location and characters? Some of the works of the Canadian film maker Norman McLaren could be termed as such, like his short film ' Horizontal Lines '. This film has an animation sequence of one line multiplying itself and then in the end the multiple lines merge themselves to be one again. Although it could be seen and interpreted as a film that has a story about a line, the film does not feature people in front of the camera - ena...

(My foray into the short fiction format) The short fiction movie format, like the short story its counterpart in literature, is a very powerful mode of expression; and a tricky one too. The maker will have to be precise, the luxury of meandering or dwelling on multiple aspects of the subject matter does not arise, the extra detailing might have to be cut off; and many a times like in a typical O. Henry style, a twist in the end is what is longed for. Mention the word short film and the 1962 black and white film from The Netherlands 'Big City Blues' directed by Charles Huguenot Vander Linden, the 1964 French movie 'An Incident at Owl Creek' directed by Robert Enrico or Julian Bigg's Canadian film '23 Skidoo', immediately pops up in one's mind. So, do the films of the Dutch film maker Bert Haanstra or the one and only Norman McLaren, the prolific Canadian short film maker.  23 Skidoo from National Film Board of Canada on Vimeo . But the ...