Smoke(Dym)

When I received an email asking if I could do a review of this short movie I wasn’t sure what to think of it really, from what little information that was given it basically was described as “The story of the person who became the captive of surrealistic madness.” that is all you need to know really.

Smoke is one of those movies where you decide for yourself what the story is. It’s a surreal piece of work that will appeal to David Lynch, especially Twin Peaks for example. Don’t confuse this with me saying this is basically a rip off of Lynch’s work because it’s not. I found this short film to be quite unique in itself.

My view on it is that it’s about love and the loss of that love. The images we are provided with during the course of the story are different interpretations of love and lust. What is love? and how close to it is the feeling of lust itself? that is one thing for me that was evident. There are metaphorical images of the sins which can be associated with love, for example gluttony and lust, envy and wrath. The images of violence are subtle and in ways beautiful and the use of colour and sound really pull the viewer into the little world the story is trying to drag you into.

One of the most stunning images for me was the religious imagery. The woman in priests clothing obviously the personification of religious judgement. She appears dark and evil, judging the man who seems to be stuck in the nightmare inside his head. The only person to truly understand the judgement of course is the man himself as we only get a glimpse of what she said into the tape recorder which he is listening to.

I really thought the acting was also done well in the movie. There is no talking at all other than the words mouthed by the judging woman, but we are pulled into the story and we feel that the actions of the characters in the nightmare world are telling us the story of what this man is going through.

This short story is not a linear piece of work where I can sit here and tell you exactly what it means. I’m sure the makers of the movie known exactly what they had in mind, but movies have the power to be personal to each different watcher. I have my view of what it is about and I’m sure others will have their own. All I’ll say is enjoy, it’s a surreal nightmarish ride through a mans madness. To me it’s about the loss of love and the judgement of that love that has been lost. I’m sure others have differing views. I’m just glad I was sent it and I got to see it. I’ve embedded the video from Youtube below so you can give it a watch.

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