Yodomi no Sawagi

I watched a version of this without subtitles, so that may be clouding my judgment of what's going on to an extent, but there is very little dialogue in this short, and it relies heavily on visual storytelling and symbolism.

First of all, I have to say, the beginning sequence with the man being hanged is darkly funny, but it is an immersion breaker. The girl who is hanging him looks so tiny that I'm not fully convinced she would be able to hoist him up in the first place, but even overlooking that the only quick way for someone to die in this manner ... is if they are dropped from a significant enough height for the neck to be broken, as would happen with a properly constructed gallows. The way the man was slowly lifted up would result in a slow strangulation death and a lot more suffering, yet he was quickly offed in all but 4 seconds... how can I be immersed into the short at all when this happens? They could have easily cut away, but the director seemed content to make this scene without shot transitions. I feel like I'm watching some crappy 1960s TV series rather than an art film. That alone prevented me from giving this a 6, to be honest. I know it may seem petty, but if someone is going to put this much effort into a short film, they ought to at least think basic events like this through.

The art features simple line work and shading, and it creates a nice contrast that complements the mood of the short well, which is also furthered by the sound design. The character art is quite simple and allows for effective character movement. There's nothing especially bad here, although I'm sure many would prefer more detailed art. The composition is generally well-chosen.

Thematically, this is pretty simple. There's a rather cumbersome corpse lying in the middle of the living room, and there are various psychotic breaks the main experiences, and eventually what she's trying to hide envelopes the interior of the house and seeps into the external world. There are several scenes along the way that lend the short film a surreal quality.

Nothing too special, but it's not bad...

rate of 4(bad/decent)
seen via english subs


There is little in the sense or words/vocals. At least in terms of plot. You the viewer witness a bizarre act that seems to have stemmed from multiple places like alcohol or violence or defect. Then reality breaks and things become stranger and stranger. Kind of like jumping into alice in the wonderland but you have no intro or conclusion.

Art is all black and white. I would have liked color but this is a clear drama scene of some-kind. Which is a good call for black and white.

i suppose the message from this is life becomes harder and harder. ... No matter what happens keep on moving? at least that was my take.