Shen Jie graduated from Shanghai Institute of Technology in 2012. His animated short films have been screened at film festivals around the world including Berlinale and Venice Film Festival, and animation festivals such as Annecy, Zagreb, Ottawa and Hiroshima. His latest work, “Tiger Stabs Tiger” is an experimental animation with no dialogue and presented in 4:3 ratio, that is presented in Locarno this year.
“Tiger Stabs Tiger” is screening at Across Asia Film Festival
In a rather absurd intro, a naked man carrying a rifle is masturbating over a grave inside a cemetery of sorts. Soon, a baby appears in the frame, with the two eventually leaving together. The next sequence is presented with writings on screen, over an image that looks like one tiger, drawn only with black and white, is eating another tiger, or perhaps merging with it. The story talks about the birth of a baby after artificial insemination, who proved though, to have a blood type that did not belong to either of the parents, but to the father's brother. The father, however, did not have a brother, which eventually led doctors to realize that when he was in the womb, he had a twin brother which he ate, with the deceased eventually becoming his genitalia. This story is actually connected, in a way, with the previous sequence.
The next one has the first man being on a bike, with the baby that appeared in the cemetery, on his back. However, they stumble upon another baby who forbids them from moving forward with its arms opened. The father repeatedly pushes the new baby away, but it keeps coming back, more battered each time. A hit with the motorcycle eventually knocks it unconscious, but he passes over it once more with his bike, with the baby on his back though, also being knocked off. A man holding a phallic organ filled with thorns is then presented, before the short returns back to the two babies in the street, and an image of the now empty cemetery, where only the rifle the man left remains.
Shen Jie directs a short that uses the story with the tigers as its base, but also manages to make another comment, that even if people throw away their guns, violence is still lurking inside them, with the rather long and repetitive sequence with the two babies and the man highlighting this remark, although in an open, vague and abstract way.
The images here, of a man masturbating in front of graves, stepping on a baby with his motorcycle, and the drawing of the horrendous penis are quite intense, essentially going against any type of political correctness. At the same time, though, it is those that induce the film with a certain tension, which also derives from the story about the baby and the image of the two tigers, which is the only one that is presented in color, with an intense red dominating the background.
The black and white approach and the somewhat surrealistic but definitely minimalist drawing and animation of both characters and settings works quite well here, resulting in an overall atmosphere that is imposing, also due to the constant sound of the wind blowing.
“Tiger Stabs Tiger” is a rather unusual animation short, that could even be perceived as offensive by many. At the same time, this is where its true strength lies, essentially creating tension by offending, while allowing the filmmaker to make his comments. The scene with the bike and the babies could be briefer, as its repetitious narrative takes too long to unfold also including moments that may make the viewer think that the video is stuck. Apart from this, however, Shen Jie's effort is commendable, and definitely deserves a look for its unusual approach.
