The historical wound caused by the Second World War was so profound that the general artistic discourse underwent a drastic change following this event not only on the thematic level but also on the level of the stylistic strategies adopted. ‘Fallen‘ is a sensitive short film based on an authentic battlefield experience of this monstrous conflagration which falls into the aesthetic descendancy of both cinematographic and literary creations focused on this global emotional trauma. However, even though the thematic option of Spencer Thomson-Anderson’s project may no longer surprise by its freshness, despite its overwhelming affective consistency (since cinematographic productions of this type seemed to reach a point of supersaturation or cliché which only a few masterpieces such as Polanski’s The Pianist have managed to avoid), this experiment manages to keep a special aura through the literary quality of the adopted discourse. Thus, beyond the “memorial” premise by which the young director attempts to somewhat rehabilitate over time the relationship between two people united by a forbidden love, being inspired by a real war correspondence, the great quality of the short film resides in the poetic quality of the chosen words that manage to decontextualize the emotional core, providing it a universal character defying the strict Second World War context.
Trying to present the essential points of the epic thread approached would make a disservice to the whole project, and it would be a gesture as useless as trying to narrate a poem. Besides the premise defined by the forbidden love between Bradley and Gordon who are separated by the agitated background of the great conflagration, the short film is designed as an epistolary dialogue that unites the two lovers’ voices in a time and space powered by the force of the gentle words that no war has ever been able to destroy.
As mentioned above, it’s hard to say if this short film will attract through its thematic originality, but the sensitivity with which Spencer Thomson-Anderson transposes the spotless beauty of love afflicted by the whims of war is a rather rare quality. Thus, beyond the visual interface that renders shady flashes of the personal reality of the two lovers whose voices are reunited over time, beyond the instrumental soundtrack that covers the whole project in a distinctive emphatic aura, the great quality of this project lies in the ability of the director to identify and activate the inner resources of the epistolary-belletristic discourse, succeeding in customizing in a few minutes the force of a special love that confronts the ugliness of a violent world. ‘Fallen’ ticks the pluses of a certain type of short films for which the literary consistency of the script is as important as any other compositional dimension, being an impressive film about the beauty and fragility of the human being who sometimes needs enough strength to face historical injustice.
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