Nacho Cerdà's shorts III: Genesis (1998)

Life is uncertain

By: JWBM

We often find ourselves in routines, taking for granted the love ones around us: conversing, joining in dinner, and sharing a bed are basic guarantees in our minds. If an accident were to happen, many of us would be unprepared and might end up traveling down a spiral of despair and uncertainty from all the memories and joined moments. If there was a glimmer of hope after the fact, I feel some would go through with it no matter what the consequences would be. Those truly in love often strive for each other's happiness after all.

Apart from dealing with death, the subject matter of Nacho Cerdà's "Genesis" is far removed from his two earlier works "The Awakening" and "Aftermath." The only exception to that is how this film is paced and shot compared to "Aftermath." "Genesis"—sharing the same rich-in-the-eyebrows lead, Pep Tosar—is likewise methodically driven to squeeze every bit of ambiance out of the room. Apart from some nightmarish flashbacks, this feels more a drama and fantasy than it does an outright horror or thriller: deep rooted emotions and some fantastical ideas are at its core rather than shocks or surprises. Instead of having dialogue or a voice over, it's fueled by a haunting classical score, eerie sound effects, and hovering wide-angle camera angles. These seem to slowly chip away and shed light on the inner happenings of a sculptor who lost his wife and now finds a way to bring her back while at the same time slipping away himself.

This was a well put together 30 minute short. It comes with its own unique mood with the artists's studio presenting an escape to a place of sadness and solitude. It creates a certain level of relatability for anyone who's felt powerless after a sudden loss. While not the perfect fantasyland outcome one would ultimately want, it instead delves into what love and sacrifice actually mean and how some of us interpret them when presented with the impossible. The film relies more on how you feel towards it rather than writing in between the lines of every action or motivation for you. With some more length to it, I feel it could have expanded even further on its themes and could have possibly been even more of an emotional force.

Rating: 8/10

Director: Nacho Cerdà (The Awakening, Aftermath)
Actors: Pep Tosar, Trae Houlihan
Info: IMDB link

Nacho Cerdà's shorts II: Aftermath (1994)

Lust at the morgue

By: JWBM

This film is less like your typical cinematic story arc and more like an experience to rattle your senses. Instead of walking away enlightened, you'll end up limping into a corner for a pause or time out from life itself. Stripped away are the usual avenues in a movie to get behind or follow. This has a one-track direction that starts out with an uneasy feeling that eventually escalates into shakes all over and permanently imprinted imagery behind the eyelids of every blink.

Some of us have jobs where we are micromanaged by a supervisor in the same room, or even other co-workers or customers with senses acute to anything out of the ordinary that may be reported. You've probably heard of every possible infraction where the person was caught red handed, or is whistling down the road ever so quietly to their next line of work. Then there are others that have a certain amount of leeway and trust when it comes to their job, whether they work alone or only check in under certain circumstances. I'd wager the temptation or probability of getting away with something comes with a higher average. But that's what separates one person with a steadfast moral framework, and someone else with less scruples provided with just the right opportunity. What's the worst act you can think of? If you guessed cheating the company, you may be jaded but still normal. If you guessed necrophilia, you might have a morbid imagination reserved for the likes of our main star in "Aftermath" who—you guessed it—works in a mortuary practically unsupervised. If you're wondering how something like this got to this point, this is the documentation of just that.

This isn't a film to see twice, at least on your own. It doesn't represent anything or make any statements—minuscule or grand—it mainly attempts to catch you off guard with a sense of shock using credible, life-like effects. One of those, "Wait till this uptight party gets a load of this!" My first experience with "Aftermath" was with a bootleg VHS tape that was dubbed over enough times to look like a real home video. The DVD version is much sharper by comparison and shows that it has a decent enough budget for what they set out to do. Unlike other times when certain films get a cleaned up makeover, you'll rarely second guess the gore effects, or how genuine the sets look like here. It's strange seeing this in widescreen with classical music and a sense of careful, artistic direction while depraved acts are taking place in the background. The idea of not having dialogue was brilliant as it forces your senses to focus on the moment by moment without a break to look away. As unorthodox as it is, it still comes with a purpose, a measured pacing, and a grand finale that'll be hard to top as far as shock value goes.

Overall, this works for what it is. It's not a horror film that's going to beat out, say, "Psycho," or even take its place, it's essentially a sub-genre of taking the medium and seeing the amount of distance over the line it made it. Similar to "Flower of Flesh and Blood," or "Men Behind the Sun," you'll probably do more talking about them, than actual time watching them.

Rating: 7/10

Director: Nacho Cerdà (The Awakening)
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link

Nacho Cerdà's shorts I: The Awakening (1990)

                                                              Lo, death calls

                                                                 By: JWBM

This is an earlier 8 minute short by the director of the now infamous "Aftermath" film. The tone is a challenge to place as it's so brief that it could have taken multiple directions from the outset: from horror, supernatural, science fiction, to even mystery. Though as it is, it has an otherworldly vibe similar to the look and feel of an earlier Lynch or Cronenberg short with a strange, black and white quality reserved for a rough outline of a dream. 

Essentially a bored student lacking in motivation falls asleep and finds himself traveling past the physical world into something more enlightened on the other side. Time itself freezes and we see a series of surreal imagery while those around him look on. This certainly had potential, though what makes it a challenge to get into is that there is little connection or background to the people in the story. Stuff happens—cool stuff at that—though it's loose enough to feel like a balloon that took off and is now hard to make out in the distance. The farther it gets away, the more your motivation dwindles. It's the difference of being there at the outset of some sudden event, compared to walking past a situation on the streets with complete strangers and a story too far distanced to fully concern yourself. 

"The Awakening" feels like it was going for something along the lines of "Carnival of Souls" meets "Jacob's Ladder" of the same year. Something that makes the mind melt and the senses never settle from out-there, supernatural ideas. I'd mention "Soultaker"—with a similar out-of-body experience—in the same sentence, but fortunately it doesn't have many dated gags to pick at for the year. While in many ways it's unfair to compare an experimental low-budget short just testing out the waters to a worked-through feature length film, however those—while unique and atypical—still had a certain backbone to them that one had more interest and investment to get behind. Possibly with some more time and some more ideas to tap into, this could have been a more worthy addition. 

Rating: 5/10

Director: Nacho Cerdà

Info: IMDB link