A typical urban morning. Rain falling from gray clouds, people walking with hunched shoulders, downcast eyes, and umbrellas hanging over them like specters. Crows flying. Traffic, neon, smog. And a lone figure falling through the sky, perhaps through memory, as well, a peaceful plummet that is noticed by those below one by one.
These are the opening moments of Ollie Magee’s allegorical animated short Fall, an experimental narrative about modern life, ineffectiveness, independence, and whatever else you make of it. The film plays like a vivid dream, one that borders on the verge of nightmare but never tips, instead residing in a contemplative if intangible realm between life and death, waking and sleeping, awareness and understanding.
Magee is an intriguing, thoughtful artist and Fall is a remarkable accomplishment – technically, artistically, and narratively. To say much more would be to enforce my interpretation on you, and part of the pleasure of experiencing Fall is allowing room to find your own meaning.
When you’re done, jump over to Magee’s website for more of his work.
Source: Short of the Week