‘AT A STOP’ is like a 5 minute invitation to stop for a film break… we might even imagine one watching this short in a station waiting for the tube, tram or even the bus which is quite ironical, giving the film a poetical side.
We’ll start by saying that even though the camera looks quite unpretentious (but it might as well be a cinematic one) this is a very, very nicely shot film. The cinematography is particularly good (better than those of many independent films shot on professional Canons, Sonys or even Alexas) with some very inspired urban shots – which by the way is very hard to find nowadays. We’d even go so far as saying that the team achieves a very nice framing out of almost nothing and we are really curious what camera they used… guys, are you going to tell us?
Both director Florian Poupelin and the cinematography team (DOP Jerome Charreton) do an excellent job to surprise the right mood for this short as we think they were quite complemented one by another; you feel the awkwardness between characters, you can read their short stories from very small gestures and you can easily understand their personalities.
Despite being so minimal, this film leaves you with a theme to think about; all the characters seem to lose what they’re after – one of them loses out of fear, one loses out of his exaggerated ‘easy-going’ individuality and the last one seems to be the victim of fate, the kind of person that always attracts these things.
There are deeper hidden meanings to the story that can be brought to debate, like helping means every so often not getting involved, or you judge one, then you judge another and you might get it wrong both times or simply giving a hand where it is not needed might make you lose your goal. There is even the impression of some unseen witness to everything, but we’ll leave this to your own thought to decipher. And we hope we haven’t spoiled anything.
So, if you find yourself bored waiting for transport watch ‘AT A STOP’. You will get inspired and find something serious to reflect on.
TMFF RATING:
