Documentary

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Welcome to:  The Black Hole Ninu Forrest October 11, 2010

A lone man stands photocopying in a dimly lit office late at night. A tired mood imbues the scene until the photocopier prints out a large black circle in the middle of a sheet of paper. Within seconds, the man realizes that the circle is, in fact, a portal, a wormhole through space. What might happen when our office worker discovers the possibilities? Self-proclaimed "Diamond Dogs" Phil Sansom and Olly Williams try to bring the possibilities of this black hole to the viewer, but falter in many aspects of this short film. The winner of many international movie awards, including the inaugural Virgin Media Shorts Award, this 2008 film is simple and sadly predictable in story line.

Through a series of events that occur after the printing of the black hole, our main character finds himself in different situations that allow him to explore the power of his new found black hole. Unfortunately, the character's lack of imagination has him using the black hole to satisfy the most mundane desires that even a child of four years might think up. The directors' choice to leave the film devoid of dialogue creates an air of confusion. The viewer does not have the benefit of the character's own words to explain what he is thinking, what motivates him, and why he makes the choices he does in using the black hole. In some sections of the film, speech may have been beneficial. All of the trite decisions made by the main character ultimately lead him into anticipated circumstances at the conclusion of this film. This simple story leaves the viewer hungry for the tantalizing possibilities we imagined at the beginning of the film, but which remain unfulfilled at the end. The directors' message in the film is lost and only the most curious of us will do further research to understand what meaning was intended behind the film. If he were to speak who would he talk to?

"The Black Hole" is indeed a black hole that sucks up your time but offers no illumination. The viewer does not leave this film enlightened in any way. You will have no deep insights into either the character or any larger meaning the directors are trying to convey. The film leaves too many unanswered questions and an unsatisfactory feeling in always being able to know what will happen next. The character's choices in using the power of the black hole, for example, to get a free candy bar out of a vending machine, are both frustrating and disappointing for the viewer. Imagining ourselves with a superpower such as the ability to fly or to be invisible were common musings of most of our childhoods. When you were young, did you ever think about what you might do with a super power? Even at a young age, you would likely choose to use whatever super power you possessed partially for yourself and partially for the good of humanity. But there is no sense of a bigger destiny or higher ideals in this film's charater. Instead, he avails himself of a candy bar and accesses the vault to steal money, not out of hunger or poverty but simply, it seems, out of a lack of imagination. Equally despairing is that the directors made deliberate choices to portray the character in this way which leaves us wondering whether the film is a desolate metaphor for a dearth of creative capacity. It is only once you do some further research that you can understand where the directors might have tried to go with this film. Though the directors' description of the film holds some promise, the end result is a movie with loose ends and a bleak perspective of human motivation.

If you were to go into viewing "The Black Hole" with some knowledge of the original ideas behind the film and an extemely interpretive perspective, you might be able to find a message in this film. Do the directors try to show that present society has reverted back to childish or selfish ways where people are unable to think beyond their immediate desires? Or are they showing the desperation and alienation of office work and how this might have an effect on someone's choices? Is this just displaying a general loss of faith in the good of humanity? After you have viewed this documentary, you will be able to come up with numerous different answers to the unexplained question that is the meaning of this film. In their synposis of the film, published on IMDB Synopsis, the directors gave a full and rich account of the character, his present circumstances and his feelings; however, little of that is conveyed in the film. The character seems bored and only mildly intriqued by the black hole. His ennui is palpable. Rather than being drawn into the story, the viewer watches dispassionately and with a growing awareness that the ending is tediously forseeable. Perhaps a longer film would have allowed for more character development, but the constraints of this film length combined with the poor storyline make this film a metaphorical black hole. Though winner of many international awards, in my opinion, not a deserving winner of your attention.

I think the film is simply a short piece of mindless entertainment. It serves that function! Not really a documentary. 20/24 Ninu's Shoe Rating: I give this film one stiletto out of four. Walk away from this one!   Thoughts on Additional Documentaries: **50 People, 1 Question** - changes in focus create interest in similar shots - not opening with question makes audience guess - broad questions leads to many different answers/stories - beginning with instrumental music and voices, reversing in end to have no voices and lyrics - many types of interesting people - cut and paste editing creates interest, but also confusion - good emotional balance of sad and happy stories - slight camera movement keep viewer interest - many small elements make film and message effective and clear

 **Last Minutes with Oden** **-** title gives clear insight into possibilities of theme of film - strong emotional connection through narration - use of emotion to spread message - camera shots at dog's eyes make viewer imagine what dog is thinking - camera shots of euthanization of dog sends message to viewer - after dog's death, scenes of people affected by the sadness continues thoughts about dog

 **The Bully Project** - stories lead to viewer empathy - use of emotion to convey message - different aspects of humanity portrayed (hope, humility, sadness) <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- ending slightly rushed for my liking <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- gave away too much of actual film <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- cut bakc between stories keeps it interesting <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">