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Short Film Review: The Chicken (2020) by Neo Sora

A packed short which brings with it questions on morality

There is something rather understated about 's “.” Although syringed with plenty of underlying meaning and enigmatic moments of pondering, there is a relative tranquillity throughout its thirteen-minute runtime which colours the short with a palpable lightness. Based on Naoya Shiga's short story “An Afternoon on November 3rd”, one of 2020's film festival favourites is undeniably an engrossing watch.

The Chicken is screening at Japan Society

The film revolves around Hiro (), a young Japanese immigrant who now resides in New York but dreams of owning a farm in Siberia, living off his own produce and teaching his children the value of life in a grassroots environment. He feels out of place in modern America, with the weather “too hot,” the rent seemingly only ever increasing, and gentrification rife within all corners of the country. Yet, in line with his wife (Sandra Maren Schneider), a white woman who is the embodiment of the well-meaning lower-middle class America, they find themselves moving to New York's Chinatown, days away from the birth of their first child.

Shortly, the protagonist is joined by Kei (), a cousin who visits from Japan and offers a de-centralised lens for both the audience and Hiro to view the sweltering and disjointed cityscape from. It is here, through the observations and noted hypocrisies stemming from the two's actions, in which the short begins to ask a number of moral questions, paying attention to how even the kindhearted can become complicit in negative structural norms.

Despite its brief thirteen-minute length, Neo Sora pens a short which succeeds in being both impactful and breezy. Utilising sharp plot-reversals, all of which seem to stem from a mishandled medical emergency which redefines Hiro's thought process, the audience bears witness to a number of provoking reiterations. The most obvious of these comes from the slaughtering of a live chicken, bought earlier in the day from the two friends whilst Hiro was finalising the purchase of his new house. Yet, it was neither of the cousins who partake in the act, despite both appearing willing to earlier, but rather the heavily pregnant wife, who does so with a notable apathy and a tangible laissez-faire approach. The audience knows this is because the two men had earlier experienced the ailing elder, and the subsequent trickling of undesirable liquid down the scorched street as he is ignorantly attended to. However Anna, Hiro's Americanised wife, simply views it as odd, and questions why the two do not plan to eat the meal they brought home, and further wonders how Hiro plans to run the farm he dreamed of so fervently at the beginning of the movie if he cannot kill just a single chicken. Such sequences are unmistakably powerful, and show the grounded growth of the two Japanese protagonists in such a short space of time.

Nevertheless, Sora's ambiguous, enigmatic conclusion stands as the most striking. After her waters break, Hiro and Anna rush off to the hospital, leaving Kei alone in the apartment, tasked with cleaning up the mess. After wiping down the remaining amniotic fluid though, we are left with one final striking image: blood. Who this belongs to is unknown, and the audience leaves without knowing the outcome of the childbirth, but the red-stained bloodied floorboard is a cutting final image which brings with it one final point of affecting contemplation.

Acting wise, “The Chicken” is perfectly serviceable as well, with the two leads functioning as modest men competently. Nothing is too elaborate, and the low-key facial expressions and contemplations from both Junshin Soga and Taiju Nakane give a realistic depth to the release. Furthermore, Sandra Maren Schneider executes her role as the unconsciously ignorant family matriarch well too, with her lack of cultural nuance evident, but also her general heart and good intentions, even if it does manifest clumsily.

Furthermore, the technical aspect of the short is astute. Laced with impactful shots of everything from the roughened landscapes to slaughtered chickens, Neo Sora works seamlessly with the director of photography, Bill Kirstein, to bring this modern look at America, flawed as it is, to life, emphasising the jarring disconnections, divides and disorganisation assuredly.

All in all, “The Chicken” is a resolute piece of cinema which offers plenty of food for thought. Excelling in keeping the subtle meanings precise and keeping a tight reign on the multifaceted narrative, Neo Sora's adaptation of “An Afternoon on November 3rd” is a definite success, and worth several revisits.

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