“Movies need to be feature-length to be good”

Said no one ever!

But I bet anything that many people think that way! The Oscars have most definitely though that way for a long time. They give short-features a category of their own instead of putting them with the others. But the fact that they are Oscar worthy, no matter which it is, goes to show that there can be awesome short films out there. This one in particular, my dearest Readers, is such excellency!

Seriously, the movies just keep rolling in, aren’t they? Yeah sure this did not just popup, It was up on YouTube way back in July and it is I that has just stumbled upon it now. But who is to say that there are not a lot more of hidden gems to be discovered for the year? Best be assured, I am on the hunt until the year is over! This is my holiday plan! I am going to be hunting for hidden treasures that are lurking in the interwebs and believe me, if they are there…I WILL FIND THEM!!

But Ar Urt…What a brilliant short film! There are subs and though they are lacking, I am sure you will get the gist of things for sure. I am only mentioning it because the film uses poems and hidden quotations which I think might make it hard for most to grasp because you cannot tell where the art and dialogue differ. But that is what this short film is – a small piece of art that uses word art in conjunction with the story telling and scene composition.

I am a sucker for intelligent plot devices and one of my favourites is when the open scene directly or indirectly connects with the ending scene! I always melt when that happens. It is the first sign that lets me know that I have totally missed something and that I need to go back and re-watch the movie to pick up the dots that connect the final line from point A to B.

Ar Urt literally starts and ends with the same scene (dismissing the real ending which is a flashback meaning that in the time-lime, it takes place before the opening scene). And then there is the word play! Using poetic lines and weaving the very names of the characters into the plot was just brain food that I was just so full-filling!

The first one that we are bombarded with is the line that goes…

“I want to touch thou, but my hands are in the woods”

This line is important in two parts of the story with the first being the very first time that Yoon-seo hints at her feelings for Seo-yoon. The other time was actually the most important because it was fate-deciding. This was during the ending scene (the real ending scene) in which the two after some time apart due to prejudice and bullying, finally came to decide one final time where they really stood.

It is actually pretty interesting here because in the beginning it is Yoon-seo who is after Seo-yoon. She was the one with the feelings whereas Seo-yoon did not seem to have such feelings (and maybe even had a boyfriend perhaps? That ring and how it caused Yoon-seo grief was kind of telling) for Yoon-seo. But in the ending scene, which is actually the opening scene as stated, the tables have turned. Now it is Seo-yoon who seems to be desperate for their love instead of Yoon-seo. In fact, Yoon-seo even suggests that they forget everything and pretend that nothing ever happened because it is convenient that way.

But of course even as she says it, her heart is hurting. The more she looks at the hurt Seo-yoon the more she breaks until finally she decides to get her hands out of the woods and touch Seo-yoon and thus breaking out of circle of fear and also at the same time doing what Seo-yoon had asked her and that was to have this final conversation in their own language, with their real feelings and so while Yoon-seo began speaking a different language that was filled with lies that Seo-yoon did not understand and hurt her a lot, Yoon-seo finally spoke their own language by raising her hand and touching Seo-yoon’s cheek just as the scene turns to black.

What am I talking about, well, get back to that black wall of white text and read it again. Now that I think about it, it is here, in the final scene that the two pieces of text connected. The longer text about Language and Love also had importance in a different scene before the ending scene (or is it after since the scene is a flashback that takes place after the real ending? Too deep I know!). the first scene that we get to know of that text is in a flashback where Seo-yoon once again displays her love for literature by siting those words.

Yoon-seo, just like before, feigns ignorance and asks Seo-yoon to explain what she means by those words. During the explanation Seo-yoon uses an example in which she says that if she says to Yoon-seo that she loves her, other people will understand what she said but only Yoon-seo will truly grasp the meaning behind the words. As you can imagine this sounded like a confession and so to milk the FEELs some more, even if it was unintentional, Yoon-seo asks Seo-yoon to explain it one more time. Being the good girl that she is Seo-yoon doesn’t even suspect and only gets exasperated that Yoon-seo was so dense.

Only Yoon-seo wasn’t so dense. She knew exactly what Seo-yoon was saying and even if the other girl did not mean it, Yoon-seo used that moment to finally let her feelings known by kissing Seo-yoon’s cheek and stopping her dead in her outburst. The silence that follows shows that there was no space for misunderstanding and avoidance anymore. That was when their love finally became real and that was the what we saw last.

Like, how great is that?! Even if you take that as the actual ending, it means that the story started with the ending but ended with the beginning (of their love). Like, how great is that, really?! Seriously, all of that goodness in only 17 minutes or less!

Dear South Korea, I love you! And, thank you!

Seriously dear Readers, you have got to watch this. It is on YouTube, has English subs and there is a link below so excuses are not permissible. Watch it, with a fresh mind, and you will be seeking out more short films in 17 minutes or so.

Have a great day…

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Short Films FTW

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