Mill Valley. Shorts.

There's something appealing about absurd short films. Risk-taking is more affordable in shorter bursts. There's plenty of room for emotion in a small period of time, admittedly, but the opportunity is also there to take advantage of a concept that, while it might not carry a feature-length film, fits perfectly into, say, ten minutes. Mill Valley short film programmer Anita Monga must thankfully have a soft spot for all things strange. There are twelve shorts programs in total playing at the MVFF, not including the roughly fifteen individual shorts paired with features. Such an extensive program leaves room for the satisfation of most peoples' tastes, whether they lean towards the emotional or the absurd.

Back in April, I reviewed John Harden's La Vie d'un Chien (The Life of a Dog), possibly the best, and certainly the most amusing, short to play at SFIFF. It concerns a scientist who has found a method of transforming people into dogs and is composed entirely of still photographs a la Chris Marker's La Jetee. To take the homage one step further, it's also in French. "As a result of either great skill or accidental success," I wrote, "the film manages to be both infectiously tongue-in-cheek and occasionally touching." I never thought that the filmmaker would actually read my review. When I was introduced to Mr Harden at MVFF's Opening Night Party, he wanted to know if I was the person who had written this. "Because," he said, "I'd like to tell you that it was entirely the result of great skill!" A copy of La Vie d'un Chien made it into Chris Marker's hands and Mr Harden has been told by a reliable source that his sole reaction was, "I like cats."

Close in heart to La Vie d'un Chien, which is a riff on an experimental film, is Coleman Miller's Uso Justo, ostensibly about a notorious experimental filmmaker rumored to be making a film in Mexico. It's in Spanish with English subtitles, and even being only taqueria-fluent in Spanish is enough to tell you that the two don't match up. The title translates to "Fair Use" and the entire film is spliced straight out of a "found" 1950s Mexican melodrama which, according to the improvised subtitles, revolves around a dying child who just wants her wish to come true, an actress whose life aim is to perform in an experimental film, and a psychadelic trip-out (the experimental film part). Just when you think the concept has run out of steam, it jumps into something new and funny.

The Raftman's Razor also deserves another mention. It's the kind of accomplished film that draws you in immediately, even if you've seen it once or twice before. Two kids spend a summer reading the ill-fated comic book, The Raftman's Razor, whose protagonist is a man with a five o'clock shadow stranded on a life raft. The comic book is an existential and surreal rumination on pointlessness and, in between comic book issues, the boys obsess and goof around in unexplained and geekishly charming ways.

Dealing directly with the surreal is Delaney Bishop's The Death of Salvador Dalí. Salvador Dalí visits Sigmund Freud for psychoanalysis and strange depth charges in unconcious waters ensue. The central role of Dalí is a bit overplayed but how can you avoid that when even Dalí overplayed himself? The film works best when it's taking itself seriously and thankfully it starts doing that fairly quickly. There's really nothing better than straight-faced surrealism. In this case, the best parts aren't when you're laughing at the absurdity - they're when you're in it, scratching your head wondering, "What the hell's going on and where's everything going next?"

Also worth mentioning: The Big Empty, about Selma Blair's Tardis-like icy frontier of a womb; Life Ride, which plays with your expectations by starting off looking like it's going to be a bit trite and boring but quickly taking a turn for the uncomfortably not-quite-right; and Top of the Circle, a lovely, touching memory film about the banalities that can punctuate the most important moments of our lives - birth and death.

La Vie d'un Chien, Uso Justo, The Death of Salvador Dalí and The Big Empty play in 5@5: Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat on October 11 and 12. Top of the Circle and Raftman's Razor play in 5@5: It's All Over Now Baby Blue on October 12 and 13 and Life Ride plays in 5@5: Simple Twist of Fate on October 14 and 15.

Posted by dwhudson at October 10, 2005 6:26 AM