Task 1: Short Film Appreciation - Social Justice

Task 1: Short Film Appreciation - Social Justice

Cholera was the short film that I chose as I felt that it was very interesting and creative in many different ways, the film was simple in its idea showing a mob of villagers discriminating against another person who was clearly infected with a mysterious disease. However, the film raises important questions on human nature and social justice, it highlights the ignorance of humanity when faced with the unknown.

I liked the way the film implemented a long continuous take that keeps the camera moving to help display the action and narrative whilst maintaining the audience’s interest, I felt that the use of the continuous take was unusual, quirky and unexpected for a film set in the past but aided the appeal of the film. I was intrigued from the opening frame but felt that the beginning dragged on a bit and could have been sped up to preserve the viewers attentiveness.

In the middle of the short Moreno used a shot in which the camera was fixed onto the infected man and we could see his facial expressions and his body movement as he ran away from the villagers, I found this type of shot unique and peculiar as it gives an insight into the man and also the shot itself was unexpected making it more unorthodox but interestingly quirky.

The intense non diegetic music used at the beginning was executed well as it helped to effectively build tension and portray the characters mood of fear and panic, these emotions were also intensified by the serious facial expressions of the village folk. I found the screeching violin music to be quirky also as it was unusual to the setting of the short, however I felt that it helped to add a sense that something bad has happened and is used effectively in the credits.

Another unusual element to me was the location and time of shooting, the film all takes place on an open field next to a flowing river making it a simple shooting location but it is the time of shooting that is the most interesting. The film takes place at dusk meaning that the director, Aritz Moreno, had a limited time for each shooting, making production even more difficult. I felt that the dark colours produced from shooting during dusk were effective as it gave the film a darker look that made it more convincing to me as a film set in the past, it also helped to enhance the gloomy emotions put across by the village characters. A little girl was also involved in the attack on the infected man which I found unusual as it would have been more logical for the adults to have left the children out of the violence, I found this moment quirky as it shows how this negative type of social justice is passed down to the next generations.

The villagers spoke in Spanish which made the film quirky as it was presented as a foreign film, also at the start of the short the villagers clothing and the setting made it seem like it was set in America. However, I felt that having the characters speak in a different language was beneficial in showing that this type of 'social justice' happened all over the world.

Cholera does not incorporate as many creative unexpected elements as other short films but the great use of productional prowess to tell a simple story still made it entertaining. The film was underlined by the questions and messages of human morality and ignorance that reveals the unjust side of human nature in the most simplistic way which made Cholera my favorite and most enjoyable short film for me so far.