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★★
Directed by: #DigantaDey
Short Film Review by: Alexandra James
Bare Foot is a short film that highlights the suffering of a common man. Director Diganta Dey and writer Ananya Adhikary have created a socio-political film that uncovers the issues that surround society since the independence of India. The film has no spoken dialogue, but instead shows an average worker’s home life, layered with their thoughts and feelings and the struggle with trying to move up in this world. This is a 2-minute short film, and within this small timeframe, Dey attempts to provide a platform for the common man that otherwise that may have been unheard.
The film begins at home, the audience are not aware whose home, however, it appears to be extremely average. The scenes do not show any people, but basic everyday items such as shoes, food, and a staircase. Along the bottom of the screen, is the narrative that explains the views of a common man. Some of the words can be seen as hard hitting, such as ‘we continue living in our tiny hollow space, we die, under an invisible surveillance.’ This may be insinuating that there are people that work, day in and day out, with no rewards or anything to show for their efforts. Instead, they are pushed into the background, ignored, and eventually become invisible. This is rather a dark sentiment and paints life as practically meaningless and bleak. However, these words need to cut deep to create an impact and highlight the severity of the situation that society is trying to ignore.
The background music was extremely melancholic and provided a sense of that desperation. There was a moment when the screen turned black, and the words read ‘A long pause…Feel the music.’ Unfortunately, this may not be a wise creative choice. For a film that is only 2 minutes long, it needs to capture the audience’s attention and provide us with a thought-provoking narrative, especially when commenting on big political and social issues. The film itself is very simplistic so to add in a black screen did take away some of the impact. That time could have been used to aid the storyline further and raise some important issues.
The concept behind this piece is powerful, however, to push this short film further, the message needed to be a lot clearer, and some diverse scenes added. The idea of shooting this piece in an average home fit well, but there needed to be more to this, because the overall simplicity made it difficult for the audience to grasp its purpose, as well as remain engaged throughout. With such a small-time frame, you need to be able to grab your viewer instantly with a powerful theme, this would have helped to keep the message alive within the audience’s mind long after the film had finished.
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