What is that?

[Extraterrestrial]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNK6h1dfy2o

[slikrapid]

filmmakers trying to send a message yet doing it in a clumsy way? :tongue:

[Extraterrestrial]

filmmakers trying to send a message yet doing it in a clumsy way?

Clumsy in what way? In other words, If you were the filmmaker, what would you to do ?

[slikrapid]

maybe make it more believable:

- 'what is that' is getting repeated as if the old man has super-fast dementia and then later we see he is quite mentally capable to 'play games' with his son
- the kid repeated that question 21 times? what kind of a disorder is that? and the old man was hugging him after every question...nope, i don't buy that story

but nice try...i guess

[saebrtooth]

...repeated as if the old man has super-fast dementia

I must say slik this is one of the most funniest thing I read from u Ive read from ur posts. funny quote per se, I had a chuckle or 2

However, I differ on ur viewpoint. If one makes the assumption that the old man was simply testing his son when asking repeatedly "what is that" I would say the old man has not lost his mind and directors were a capable bunch in telling a believable situation.

[Sazzy]

There's nothing that states he's got dementia. That's something you assume. It seems you're just assuming the son is the best son in the world, probably identifying him with yourself.

Knowing nothing of the background story, you can easily assume the son hardly visits. When he is finally forced by whatever reason, maybe guilt, he visits his dad one day. Dad, a bit sad because of this, decides to make it clear to his son by doing the same annoying shit his son did when he was young. And the son went right for it.

The message is only as clumsy as the background story you imagine with it. I thought this was spot on and not clumsy at all.

[slikrapid]

funny quote per se, I had a chuckle or 2

yeah, happens to me too...from time to time :tongue:


However, I differ on ur viewpoint. If one makes the assumption that the old man was simply testing his son when asking repeatedly "what is that" I would say the old man has not lost his mind and directors were a capable bunch in telling a believable situation.

ok, but can you really imagine someone asking exactly the same question over and over again about exactly the same thing and every time getting exactly the same response over and over again - that's everything but believable i'm afraid


It seems you're just assuming the son is the best son in the world, probably identifying him with yourself.

been reading psychology for du**ies or something? ;):tongue:


Knowing nothing of the background story...

but thats the point of short films, no time to develop or explain the background story, meaning you have to fill in the gaps (if needed)


The message is only as clumsy as the background story you imagine with it.

- the execution was imo clumsy, not necessarily the message itself
- there can be multiple messages inside or none at all, regardless of the background story
- even for a clearly defined background this may apply: 'one man's trash is another man's treasure'

and so on...there is no simple universal answer

[Sazzy]

been reading psychology for du**ies or something? ;):tongue:

No I just found that smarter sounding :lol: I've been watching a full season of The mentalist the last few days xD It sticks! No offence meant with it, of course. ;) Just toying a bit


but thats the point of short films, no time to develop or explain the background story, meaning you have to fill in the gaps (if needed)

I know that's the point. I was just trying to point out that your interpretation is not per se the one the authors were thinking of, if thinking of anything at all. In your previous post, the clumsiness had a strong correlation with the way you seemed to understand it, hence my response.


- the execution was imo clumsy, not necessarily the message itself
- there can be multiple messages inside or none at all, regardless of the background story
- even for a clearly defined background this may apply: 'one man's trash is another man's treasure'

and so on...there is no simple universal answer

I might go as far as agreeing that the actors are obviously not the best in the world :P (If that's what you mean) But you're right, shorts are what you make of them. A big part of the reason ppl make these, is to make people think about it and see what they come up with. Or that's at least what I figured. I think it can be often interesting to see what people think of when you make something like this. That's probably the fun part about these. If it was one clear answer, we probably wouldn't even be talking at the moment :lol: It's nice that there are still things that make you think, unlike most Hollywood stuff at the moment.

[slikrapid]

after a discussion with saebrtooth considering this video here is imo another possible explanation:

the scenes could have also been intentionally distorted out of the ordinary/expected just to attract attention so that we could notice them and wonder about their meaning

so maybe the kid's repetition is only a metaphor for something else, say, individualism, curiosity, innocence at one's very young age, just starting to know/experience the world, inquiring about anything & everything

then the adult and his curious/repetitive lack of attention towards unimportant things (judging from his perspective), a metaphor for the adult preoccupation & accentuated seriousness or even 'blindness' (their life, jobs/career,...)

and finally we return with the wise old-timer that managed to realize the aforementioned 'life lessons' and now he uses repetition (so there could be at least 2 hints at 'irregularities' here: repetition/persistence at it & the exact same phrase used) to teach his son (caught in the usual societal pattern) a valuable lesson

you know, this possibility makes more sense (in a logical and intentional way) than the filmmakers making a mistake or being careless with their movie's contents, since it may very well be a story that metaphorically transposes a single human's development stages (kid...adult...old-timer) with their family/ancestral and even society relationships, while carrying a (societal) human relationship critique

[memento]

I don't know either.