Reviews

Porcelain Unicorn is a short drama film. When three boys go to a deserted house, one of the boys finds a Jewish girl in the shelf. She hides in it because Jewish people are persecuted. She hands over porcelain unicorn to him when he talks to her. At that time, German soldiers come to the house, so he lets her go and he get at them and is thrown the porcelain unicorn. He visits there decades later with the broken porcelain unicorn.

This film was shown at the competition. In this competition, directors are only allowed to use six ruled lines. In these lines, there is a line about unicorn. I am impressed that this film depicts unicorn as inorganic thing because it is only one in three films that was shown in the competition and I watched. Furthermore, the story is moving. I think the boy is brave because he will be punished if he protects the Jewish girl. This film tells us the sad history in short time.

I want to recommend this film and I think it is worth watching because it tells the history. Children may know and research it due to watching this film.

'A moment' is a short drama film. The film was made in Japan. The film has four characters, a Japanese man and girl, an American man, a Taiwanese man. They seem to be disappointed and feel sadness and loneliness.

However, they come to change gradually when two of each of them meet coincidentally after the moment of silence for the Great East Japan earthquake. There is room for imagination as to why all of them are disappointed, but I think the audience will empathize with the characters because everyone has experienced the loneliness and sadness even if they don't experience the earthquake. In addition, it is heart-warming to see the change of the characters through the film. Moreover, I suppose it is new that there are two foreigners though the film is about the earthquake in Japan. It makes me notice that it is not only Japanese people but also foreigners that suffered from the earthquake. I think this film is worth watching and I recommend this to those who are looking for a moving story.

"Whacked" is a short film. This film was made in the United States in 1998. In the opening scene of this film, there is a man lying on the street with the wail of ambulance sirens in the background. A man who is driving a cart to collect balls in a driving range is irritated by the people who practice golf because they hit his cart with their balls, so he tries to get rid of stress in an expected way. The audience will make sense of the opening scene when they see the end of the movie. I hear some people think this film is comedy and this story is fun, but I'm scared that the man releases his stress in the way to take it out on others and I feel that he seems to think he has the right to do this. However, it is interesting that the people who release stress by doing golf at the driving range make the man feel stress. As a result, the man's behavior builds the stress for others. I suppose the film depicts society. I think the people who want to watch black comedy films will like "Whacked".

"Born with it" is a Japanese short drama film. Keisuke moves school to a country area from Tokyo. He is slandered that he has AIDS from the first day because of his appearance. Only one student speaks to Keisuke, but Keisuke can't stand the behavior of the others any more and he escape from school. He takes action due to the encouragement from his mother.

I think there are two kinds of exclusion.

First, there is exclusion for newcomer. I suppose it is particular to suburb area. Keisuke is from Tokyo. As far as the movie, he doesn't have an acquaintance, so he doesn't belong to the community in this area. As a result, he is excluded as a stranger.

Second, there is exclusion for the 'other' existence. His appearance has different points from the Japanese majority. Furthermore, he only has a mother. I think the single parent family is looked on coldly because I believe there is still prejudice in Japan.

However, exclusion because of his appearance is not particular in suburb area. I think Japanese people still have the assumption that Japan is a single ethnic group, so the person who has the appearance which differs from the majority of Japanese people is judged that the person is different from Japanese.

The film was thought provoking and I want to recommend it.

Three Days in Kamakura is a short drama film. The film was made in Japan in 2012. David and Keiko are married, but they are not getting along well partly because they can't have a baby. David works at an English conversation class for children. One day, he looks after Jay who is one of children in his class because Jay's mother doesn't come to pick him up. David and Keiko start to fix their relationship while spending time with Jay. They talk about their conflict to be parents of Jay or to contact the police. In the beginning of the film, David and Keiko don't share their thoughts because they are growing apart. However, they need to say their honest opinion about what to do with Jay. As a result, they are able to honestly face their relationship that is not going well. I believe the scene that David and Keiko talk sincerely to each other is the highlight of the film. I think the story depicts family love and the story is moving. I want to recommend this film to people who are looking for the moving stories or ones about family.

"I'll Wait For The Next One" is a French short comedy drama film. It was made in 2002. A woman walks to the station with a lonely expression. When she gets on the train, a man also gets on it to introduce himself and says that he is looking for love to passengers in a loud voice. The woman has a puzzled look at first, but she comes to be interested in what he says and sympathize with his view of love. It is a story with a surprise ending. The title implies that the women waits for her destiny and I think she is so bored in her daily life so that she wants to believe the one and fate. However, I suppose the man makes fun of the women who are looking for partners seriously and I don't think it is a funny joke. I sympathized with her in the film. Furthermore, I have empathic embarrassment to watch this film. I believe people who care what other people think much would feel this embarrassment. I think the film is worth watching because it gives the audience the lesson that there some things are too good to be true.

"Knick Knack" is a short comedy animated film. This film was made by Pixar in 1989 in the U. S. There are souvenirs on a shelf in a living room. A snowman in a snow globe wants to join in and meet the girl because there is a distance between other souvenirs and him. He tries to break the snow globe again and again, but he fails and finally falls to the floor. I think the film is enjoyable to watch because the snowman struggles to break the dome and I feel there is a gap when a cute character uses firearms and bombs. Moreover, I suppose the film is typically Pixar, in particular, the ending is. I would like to recommend this film to family with small children because this story will be easy to understand and be able to enjoy even for young children. Furthermore, parents will also enjoy this because this story is positive.

Toyland is a short drama film. It was made in Germany in 2007. This won an Oscar in 2009. The setting is the German Nazi regime. A mother finds her son is not in their house when his Jewish friend is taken away in the morning. The mother is looking for him because she remembers she says the concentration camp is the Toyland to her son when she is asked about the concentration camp and the son wants to go there. She goes to search the train which conveys Jewish people to the concentration camp and she only finds the friend's family. When she encounters the family, she takes action. I think the story makes the audience confused. However, I feel the complex order of the story is a charm of the film because I was surprised by the revealed facts as the story goes on. Moreover, the last scene is moving. I think the audience may want to watch this film again and again.

"Father and Daughter" is an animated short drama film. This film was made in Britain and The Netherlands. A father and his young daughter ride bicycles, but the father says good-bye to his daughter and he leaves when they arrive at a waterfront. The daughter visits there and she always waits for his return. I think the pretty pictures makes the sad story milder. The music is mostly a good rhythm, but sometimes it has a sorrowful atmosphere and I feel emotional about it. This film has neither dialogue nor narration. Furthermore, the audience can't see the facial expression of the characters well. I suppose these factors make the audience interpret this story in different ways. I feel it is interesting part of the film and I believe those who watch this film for the first time will want to watch this again and again. Each scene of the film is simple, but I think it appeals to the audience's feeling strongly. This film is worth watching. Especially, I recommend "Father and Daughter" to people who like touching movies.