2001 - COPY SHOP
Animation (although you would swear it is live-action and in fact,
it was nominated as an Oscar Live-Action short) written and directed
by Austria director Virgil Widrich. On Best of Clermont-Ferrand
Collection. B/W Clever and technically brilliant but almost outstays
it's welcome.
A young man who works in a photocopying shop photocopies his hand
with amusement one day. However the photocopy then kicks out copies
of him earlier in the day etc. He turns the machine off and locks
the copies away. However he finds copies of himself repeating themselves
all over his town as things begin to get out of hand.
I had very high hopes for this before I watched it because I had
heard good things about it and I was mainly satisfied afterwards
despite a few problems. The story could be taken as an allegory
of cloning or several other things. I ignored the subtexts and focused
on the fact that it was simply a clever idea at heart. Technically
the film is brilliantly imaginative and worth watching. The film
was shot digitally. These digital images were then all photocopied
and then animated. In terms of the plot this adds eight to the copying
subject but it is also an very different way to make a film.
The slight downside is that the grainy images and rough style can
be a little hard on the eyes at first, but I soon forgot this as
I watched it. The plot is very clever but it is just one idea. After
several minutes the novelty and the freshness wears off and it starts
to outstay it's welcome – I wanted it to go somewhere. The
ending is good and it saves the film just as it was starting to
run out of steam.
Overall I enjoyed it and there's no doubting the imagination and
technical ability that went into making this. In a world where Being
John Malkovich is praised then this too should be appreciated as
it has similar shots if not ideas. Well worth a look – plus
it's easily the best (the only!) piece of Austrian cinema I've ever
seen!
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