This is my second time watching this short and it's just as great as I remember it being. This time around, I appreciated the unique style of pacing of this short quite a bit more. The short moves at an incredibly fast clip and the story, editing, and music work in harmony at giving it this unique feel. In spite of the short only lasting 6 minutes, quite a lot happens story-wise which is squeezed into that timeframe. While doing this can often lead to the work in question suffering from a lack of breathing room though, I didn't feel that with this short since it remained easy to follow from beginning to end. The editing also contributes to this short's unique pacing (from what I read, the average shot in this film lasts for about two seconds). Finally, that the music moves at a fast clip as well further contributes to this feel. I also give this short credit for how it captures the feel of a silent film pretty well. I've seen a handful of films which simply put on a black and white filter, mute the sound, and consider that to be sufficient, but this short goes a couple steps further by adopting the unique framing and grainy/scratched film stock which is commonly found in silent films. The only thing Maddin might've forgotten about was the aspect ratio, but whatever. He still got more right than wrong. I wouldn't say I have any issues with this short, though while the ending is certainly surprising, I'm not sure how to interpret it. I may have responded better to a more grounded ending. Who knows. Regardless, this is still a great short film which I'm glad I rewatched.
Review of The Heart of the World
