Farewell To The Ark
| Written by: Yi-Feng Chang | Directed by: Yi-Feng Chang | Genre: Drama | Length: 25 minutes |
| “The dark themes and open ended nature of this title will draw in it’s viewers, keeping them interested regardless of some other, slight shortfalls this production may have. |
| Yi-Feng Chang’s short film Farewell To The Ark is brimming with excellent cinematography and good direction. This is a moody title that surface-wise has a lot going for it. It’s the ‘slightly’ messy narrative that stops this title from reaching perfection. Jie, played by Yu-Chieh Cheng, is a tortured soul defined both by his apparent self worth, and his lack of ability to socialize with his fellow man. Because of this, he is considered a joke by most of the people he knows. Made fun of and bullied. Despite his job, Jie can never seem to even pay his rent, let alone have anything left for himself. His only escape from this dreadful reality is an online game. It’s in this virtual space he meets people but even then, tries way to hard to please them. When Shizuko played by Angel Lee, asks him for an expensive gift; Jie agrees ‘knowing’ he can not pay for it. This leads him to a shop where he attempts to steal the item and gets caught. By this point, even his sister has had enough and Jie is left to fend for himself. Farewell To The Ark manages to convey this story, but barely. With little side stories along the way and a slightly messy pacing and timeline, it is at times difficult to figure out just where we are in the story. All the little side stories do relate, but you may find yourself scratching your head a little from time to time. This is never so bad you can’t tell what’s happening, but it’s noticeable none the less.
Farewell To The Ark is not an English movie, but does contain sub titles. The idea struck me that I may perceive this film better if I actually spoke the language. It’s tough to understand and relate with characters, when you are focused on reading the small text at the bottom of the screen. It was just a thought and could even be a right one. But since I can’t speak the language I can only hypothesize. The added background music had an emotional effect that maybe helped me understand what was going on a little. I felt the scores were good additions; especially for anyone using the sub titles. Other than that, the production and post production work were handled really well. The dark themes and open ended nature of this title will draw in it’s viewers, keeping them interested regardless of some other slight shortfalls this production may have. Anyone wanting to really dig in, and maybe even watch twice, will find it much more rewarding than the average person watching. All in all, Farewell To The Ark is an excellent choice when searching for a well done micro flick. Not perfect – but far from bad.
|
Related Posts
