Of the films shown at the Short Shorts Film Festival, “Mare” stands out among the crowd because its creators are aware that less is sometimes more. A simple plot, disciplined storytelling and coherent animation style all help in creating an atmosphere of helplessness in the post-industrial world. Rather than relying on any dialogue, Tamaki Ishida smartly chose to resort to just images.
“Mare” is screening at ShortShorts
In a way, “Mare” is a film about images in a broader sense. It starts off with grim imagery straight out of the most apocalyptic films: faceless robots walk around desolate spaces, carrying trash and dropping it into the volcanic abyss. Tamaki quickly cuts from that to a well-lit room where the protagonist, deep in his creative zone, works on a naïvely childlike painting (two adults, one kid). It's an almost pastoral environment with views of the sea through the window making it seem like a cliché.
The director plays here with the viewers' expectations: in reality, the protagonist lives inside of a can. Whether he's imprisoned or lives there voluntarily is never entirely addressed. What we know is he is stuck there with his images, which are clearly some memories of the past. Who are the two adults and the kid? And which one of them is he on the picture? Minimalism, although efficient in many ways, often strips away the nuance. In “Mare's” case, any sort of dramatic stake does not fully come to the fore because of that. A 7-minute runtime does not permit a more detailed venture into the backstory of the protagonist. Rather than that, Tamaki Ishida wants the viewer to be in the present with a man who has nothing left to do than paint, reminisce and listen to analog records.
But what really does the heavy lifting of setting the tone and adding complexity to the protagonist is the music and sound design. The end credits begin with the name of the composer (Takami Kanazuka), and rightfully so! The compositions, quite typical, but also having a subtle touch of melancholy, invite a more contemplative approach towards the film. The set design tells us all we need to know about the desolate life of the main character. With its high production value and nuanced setting, “Mare” uses the animated short film format to a great extent and manages to be an atmospheric tale about loss and abandonment.
