The short film tells the story of a young Japanese girl whose father is gravely sick and cannot come out of bed. For this reason, he gives money to his daughter in order for her to go and buy him packs of cigarettes. But the girl's mother refuses this scheme and checks every time her daughter's bag for new packs, removing them and scolding her. Eventually, under her father's insistence, the daughter waits for her mother to leave and goes out on a mission to buy a new pack for her father.
The Errand was quite an enjoyable short film for me. I appreciated first of all the originality of the story. Indeed, what struck me is the fact that this story, where a little girl is allowed to buy packs of cigarettes just at a vending machine, would never have been possible to take place in my own country. In that way, the very first scene actually shocked me, before I understood for whom she was actually buying them. What I also really enjoyed is that we really feel for the little girl. For example, when she fails continuously to get a pack, I felt really sad for her thinking back on the reason why she was doing this to begin with, to make her father happy, even if she perfectly knows that it is not helping his health at all. Finally, I also like the "journey" aspect of the little girl's quest for a pack. She travels her neighborhood, meets various people and faces obstacles. Even if it might be just a small scaled journey, for such a young girl like her it is probably the biggest she's ever had to go on to.
The Errand was quite an enjoyable short film for me. I appreciated first of all the originality of the story. Indeed, what struck me is the fact that this story, where a little girl is allowed to buy packs of cigarettes just at a vending machine, would never have been possible to take place in my own country. In that way, the very first scene actually shocked me, before I understood for whom she was actually buying them. What I also really enjoyed is that we really feel for the little girl. For example, when she fails continuously to get a pack, I felt really sad for her thinking back on the reason why she was doing this to begin with, to make her father happy, even if she perfectly knows that it is not helping his health at all. Finally, I also like the "journey" aspect of the little girl's quest for a pack. She travels her neighborhood, meets various people and faces obstacles. Even if it might be just a small scaled journey, for such a young girl like her it is probably the biggest she's ever had to go on to.