Film Review

5.1       Review and critique at least one short film production

Title: ‘A Human Vice’ / Director: Steven Chamberlain / Country: United Kingdom / Year: 2012

Story: ‘The worst cupid in Heaven’s history is given an ultimatum: complete his next match or face damnation. Alan will need all his skill and a lot of coffee to discover the true meaning of love.’

Genre: A short narrative comedy film.

Concept/Ideas: ‘The Human Vice’ highlights how one should appreciate the rich randomness and imperfections of our world rather than strive towards an idealistic one in the afterlife. This is primarily seen in the juxtaposition between the presentation of heaven and earth. Typically in religious texts, heaven connotes peace, delight and bliss while earth may represent humanity’s corruption. However, within this short film, heaven is seen to be industrial, impersonal, competitive and confining, revealing a
darker truth behind our post-life ideals and ambitions.

Audience: I believe this film was directed towards a younger adult audience as many of the themes correlate with this demographic’s interests. For instance, relationships, love and gaining autonomy. However, there is no directly adult content so it may also be appropriate for younger audiences as well.

Sound: The sound within the film contributes to the film’s ideas. Industrial sound effects are used to demonstrate the harsh, discomfort of ‘heaven’ which juxtaposes the light bird sound effects used on earth. This further contradicts the stereotypes associated with earth and heaven’s experience.

Cinematography: These ideas are further reflected in the use of lighting. The dark light within ‘heaven’ creates a claustrophobic atmosphere, and using harsh spotlights to expose Alan’s mistakes or unflattering shadows highlights his own sense of unease. However, in the scenes set on ‘earth’, the light is soft, flattering and fully diffused. This creates a sense of tranquillity within the audience, as things are simpler on earth both literally in story and in terms of visual aids.

Locations: The ideas within this film are shown through the choice of location. Heaven is set within a sparse warehouse setting that alludes to an industrial factory workspace and thus evokes a bleak atmosphere. In comparison, the locations chosen for earth are filled with nature or more light-hearted spaces such as a coffee shop. This use of nature parallels typical religious ideals, such as the Garden of Eden. Therefore, heaven is presented as a venue for robotic and soulless capitalism while earth can be seen as more free and liberating.

Conclusion: A Human Vice is a well produced, high quality student short film that examines fundamental arguments of free will and our perceptions of the afterlife in a light hearted and simplistic manner with each aspect of production being carefully considered to further extend the story.