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VIA[DOLO] (2021) A Surreal Short Film by Daniel Keeble

VIA[DOLO]

&NewLine;<p>I have seen a lot of feature-length films that are purposefully directionless&comma; which does not always work in their favor&period; Sometimes&comma; you want to see a film that is open to interpretation&comma; but you don’t feel like slogging through a three-hour&comma; mind-melting experience&period; This is one of the reasons that I loved Daniel Keeble’s <em>VIA<&sol;em>&lbrack;DOLO&rsqb; so much &lpar;you can watch the film <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;127films&period;co&period;uk&sol;">right here<&sol;a>&rpar;&period; With a runtime of just 6 minutes&comma; this short film packs all of the same absurdity&comma; confusion&comma; and intensity of a Yorgos Lanthimos or David Lynch film into a much smaller&comma; easily-digestible package&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The film opens with dreary&comma; static images of grey apartment buildings and desolate urban landscapes&period; Within the first few seconds&comma; I was already reminded of some of my favorite shots from Danny Boyle’s <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;2014&sol;04&sol;18&sol;trainspotting-analysis-and-the-dilemma-of-scottish-national-identity&sol;">Trainspotting<&sol;a>&comma; in which the ugliness of urban life contextualizes the high-octane narrative&period; We soon encounter Kirstie &lpar;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;instagram&period;com&sol;lilystreames&sol;">Lily Streames<&sol;a>&rpar;&comma; a young British girl with neon blue hair leaving her apartment in the early hours of the morning&period; She is speaking on the phone about a wild party and sexual encounter the night before&period; However&comma; the line suddenly disconnects and the conversation ends&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>As Kirstie continues walking&comma; she attempts to light a cigarette&comma; but as she does&comma; an invisible force pushes her&period; She appears confused and frightened but continues walking through the empty city anyway&period; As she walks&comma; the invisible force persistently pushes her from one direction to another&comma; until she finally collapses near a garbage bin in exhaustion&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Since it is such a short film&comma; I will not give away too much of the plot&period; However&comma; there are hints that keep the viewer questioning what is actually happening in each and every shot&period; A group of strange people approach Kirstie and say things that make you think they might know about the force terrorizing her&period; However&comma; they do not believe that she can be saved&period; When they try to get close to her&comma; Kirstie raises her hand to stop them&comma; and a black mark forms on her palm&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;05&sol;VIADOLO-2-1024x768&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Lily Streames blue hair" class&equals;"wp-image-2507"&sol;><figcaption><em>VIA<&sol;em>&lbrack;DOLO&rsqb; &lpar;2021&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Is Kirstie being stalked by an unseen monster&quest; Is she cursed&quest; Has she been chosen for some kind of religious or cult sacrifice&quest; Or is all of this part of a bizarre fever dream&quest; If you’re looking for clear answers to any of these questions&comma; writer&sol;director Daniel Keeble is not interested in providing them&period; Instead&comma; the film is wide open to viewer interpretation&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Personally&comma; I saw the entire film as a kind of allegory of the human experience&period; We are born&comma; and&comma; to paraphrase Sartre&comma; thrust into the world&comma; instantly responsible for everything that we do&period; Yet&comma; we must accept this responsibility in a world that is often ugly&comma; confusing&comma; and at times&comma; absolutely terrifying&period; The brilliant soundtrack and audio effects work to emphasize the power and physical strength of the invisible force&comma; while at the same time producing a sense of constant and persistent dread&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Kirstie is just trying to walk forward&period; When forces outside of her control prove too much for her to handle&comma; she says that she wants to return home&comma; to a place of safety&period; Throughout the film&comma; we see brief insert shots of what looks like flesh&comma; accompanied by heavy breathing&period; It conjures up the safety and security of a fetus in the womb&period; But it is too late for Kirstie&period; She cannot return to the safety of the womb&period; She is pushed and beaten down by the world around her&comma; and when she does encounter other people&comma; they offer her no help&period; Instead&comma; they make her feel even more alienated&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;05&sol;VIADOLO-15-1024x768&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Lily Streames in VIA&lbrack;DOLO&rsqb;" class&equals;"wp-image-2508"&sol;><figcaption><em>VIA<&sol;em>&lbrack;DOLO&rsqb; &lpar;2021&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>In the film’s final act&comma; Kirstie is drawn toward a large body of water&comma; though it is unclear if she is going there to escape the invisible force or is being drawn there by the force itself&period; Either way&comma; she reveals that her blue hair is a wig&comma; removes it&comma; and shows her natural femininity&period; This also seems to be a prevailing theme in the film&period; Kirstie is not just a person being tossed in every direction&comma; but a woman being pushed down by the world&period; The last sequence even resembles &lpar;to a certain degree&rpar; the final chapter of Kate Chopin’s <em>The Awakening<&sol;em>&period; Kirstie is not weak&comma; but the world seems to punish her simply for being a woman&period; Eventually&comma; she is so physically and mentally traumatized by the experience that she is willing to succumb to death&comma; or whatever fate awaits her&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The film studies a wide range of visual and philosophical themes&comma; from the isolation of urban life to the burdened existence of women &lpar;and humans in general&rpar;&period; But Daniel Keeble’s<em> VIA<&sol;em>&lbrack;DOLO&rsqb; does not just succeed because of beautifully crafted shots and interesting themes&period; Like any great indie film&comma; it accomplishes a lot through creativity and ingenuity&comma; as opposed to a huge budget that affords limitless possibilities&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Even with just 6-minutes to watch&comma; it is a highly engaging and even heart-pounding experience&period; <em>VIA<&sol;em>&lbrack;DOLO&rsqb; is simultaneously absurd and beautiful&comma; difficult and fantastic&comma; confusing and frightening&comma; all while being highly entertaining&period; In short&comma; the film is a brief&comma; intense&comma; contemplative ride&comma; and if you are a fan of the surrealism and absurdity of filmmakers like David Lynch&comma; <em>Via<&sol;em>&lbrack;DOLO&rsqb; is a must-see short film&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h4 class&equals;"wp-block-heading"><em>VIA<&sol;em>&lbrack;DOLO&rsqb; &lpar;2021&rpar; Movie Rating&colon; &starf;&starf;&starf;&starf;&half; out of 5<&sol;h4>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><em>If you’d like to keep up with Daniel Keeble’s work&comma; you can <&sol;em><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;instagram&period;com&sol;daniel&lowbar;&lowbar;keeble&sol;"><em>follow him on Instagram<&sol;em><&sol;a><em> or check out other entries from the <&sol;em><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;instagram&period;com&sol;essexfilmcollective&sol;"><em>Essex Film Collective<&sol;em><&sol;a><em>&period; VIA&lbrack;DOLO&rsqb; was included in the 2022 <&sol;em><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;frenchrivierafilmfestival&period;com&sol;"><em>French Riviera Film Festival<&sol;em><&sol;a><em> as one of only two entries from the U&period;K&period;&comma; but you can stream the film now via the <&sol;em><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;127films&period;co&period;uk&sol;"><em>127 Films website<&sol;em><&sol;a><em>&period; For more film reviews like this one&comma; be sure to check out the <&sol;em><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;"><em>Philosophy in Film<&sol;em><&sol;a><em> homepage&excl;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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