‘THE TARGET‘ is a short film that once again confirms us the talent of director Diego de la Vega, who manages to create with fascinating authenticity compelling post-apocalyptic landscapes that raise the quality of the cinematographic image to the structural requirements of a visual poem. Clearly, not only the picturesque interface of this experimental film with sci-fi / dystopian valences continues to surprise us by its emotional intensity or its chromatic balance, being similar to the solemn landscapes of some directors such as Terrence Malick, but also by the expressiveness of the actors who build, beyond words, an emotional story about love and sacrifice. Being devoted to an unconventional cinematic strategy, based on a certain acoustic stridence that intensifies the narrative consistency of the desperate search of the characters, Diego de la Vega orchestrates with a photographer’s intuition a catastrophic scenario announcing the imminence of the total extinction of the human species, yet preserving an optimistic solution which speaks of the possibility of a humanity rehabilitation governed by self-destruction absurd mechanisms. Thus, this short film succeeds to be a harmonious combination of the arid and poetic scenery of Frank Herbert’s Dune novels, the fragile humanity of The Road protagonists and the hard atmosphere of the musical vertigo used by Gaspar Noé. Obviously, the final result strengthens our admiration for the magnetic film strategy of this special director, from which we impatiently expect other beautiful projects.
In a desert landscape haunted by the spectrum of a bizarre disease, a father desperately seeks a miraculous plant that could save his child from death. In a universe so hostile, apparently devastated by the atrocities of a nuclear conflict, the power of sacrifice and love is the only weapon with which humanity can defend its integrity.
A combination of experimental film (built like a visual poem that oscillates between extreme sensitivity and terrifying atmosphere) and parable about the irreversible degradation of humanity, Diego de la Vega’s project resumes somewhat the general epic schematism of dystopias / post-apocalyptic artistic experiments, presenting a universal story about the emotional crisis of the individual overwhelmed by the absurdity of history. Victims of a universal evil that corrupts humanity, the characters of this hypnotic short film, the keepers of the remnants of an illusory social paradise, touched our hearts by their silent desperation to keep intact a sensitive core away from the thirst for power of invisible wicked puppeteers. Excelling through a balanced and impactful image and sound, ‘THE TARGET’ fascinates and terrifies, excites and revolts, while surprising, in a grandiose post-apocalyptic vivid painting, the immortal beauty of the human soul animated by love for the others.
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