Take away critic #2 : “A Single Life” (I12) – Scratch my life!
Job ROGGEVEEN, Joris OPRINS, Marieke BLAAUW
Pays-bas / 2014 / 00:02:15
In the category of “very short” films selected this year, A Single Life provides an example of narrative effectiveness. In only 2’15”, this burlesque animation from the Dutch trio Job, Joris and Marieke brings us face to face with a young woman whose life is turned upside down the day she receives a mysterious vinyl album.
This seemingly ordinary record reveals itself as something more than just a simple musical object. By playing it, the young woman realizes that the record allows her to travel in time. A simple jump on the album results in a jump in time: the pizza she held in her hand is eaten, but regenerates if she plays the record backwards. That is all she needs to embark on a journey in time and transform herself into a quantum voyager!
And too bad if the melancholy music leads us to favor a trip back to the past à la Marty McFly. The character in fact prefers to explore the future. A less than joyous future where we see her end up definitively alone, even if a baby announces a change in fortune. But, it is with this birth, brought about by speeding up the record, that things begin to unravel. The young Mother, not really ready, tries to return to the past, between pizza and pregnancy. But a rewinding mistake sends her back far beyond her lunch break…
Each situation takes place in the closed environment of her apartment. The decors and the computer-generated animation, although simple, are detailed and colorful. The burlesque humor is present at each jump of the record, as our character is unable to handle each new jump in time. The numerous falls and the increasingly difficult obstacles lead to several repetitive gags and comical gestures.
At the end of this big mix, we will have a hard time applauding the performance of this young voyager as her destiny is reduced to ash in the blink of an eye. Moral of the story: by always wanting to go faster, we run the risk of losing everything. Luckily, given the film’s success, it seems that the directors took their time.
Programmes for viewing A Single Life: International Competition I12 and SCO.
