Concepts of time and history are challenged in a variety of ways with the Worldwide Film Festival's You Can't Take It With You program. The characters in this program are dedicated to leaving a piece of themselves in history, and these selections bring together truly unique approaches to self-preservation.
"Time" is a stunning photo collage of Toronto street corners and their evolution over the past century. Kwan Ho Tse presents a staggering work of animation and photo manipulation that will bring joy to any Toronto patron, as well as any fan of beautiful filmmaking. The program missteps with the next two shorts, twitchy and pretentious autopsy-like animations "Danse Macabre" and "Secret Machine."
A permanent record of time through music is the focus of "The Archive" and the life of its protagonist, Paul Mawhinney. Mawhinney possesses the world's largest and most valuable record collection, consisting of roughly six million unique recordings. Director Sean Dunne lets Mawhinney and the collection speak for themselves about the importance of such a historical archive.
Much of Mawhinney's library of recordings is comprised of music whose master tapes have been destroyed by the record companies over time, leaving Mawhinney the sole possessor of an enormous chunk of music history. In an age of terabyte hard drives filled with music, archival relevance has started to fade. Mawhinney's collection, worth approximately 50 million, remains unsold even at three.
The program offers compelling fiction as well, with Swedish filmmaker Andreas Tibblin's "Good Advice (Goda råd)." A ten-year-old boy decides to run away after experiencing a life of emotional neglect from his parents but not before leaving a tape recording of "good advice" for his unborn sibling. His parents find the recording and after listening, realize how parents can leave the stain of history on their children.
Thankfully, the story ends with a clever rug-puller in the last shot. Once again, a common and effective way to cap the sweet moments encapsulated in these shorts.
"Time" is a stunning photo collage of Toronto street corners and their evolution over the past century. Kwan Ho Tse presents a staggering work of animation and photo manipulation that will bring joy to any Toronto patron, as well as any fan of beautiful filmmaking. The program missteps with the next two shorts, twitchy and pretentious autopsy-like animations "Danse Macabre" and "Secret Machine."
A permanent record of time through music is the focus of "The Archive" and the life of its protagonist, Paul Mawhinney. Mawhinney possesses the world's largest and most valuable record collection, consisting of roughly six million unique recordings. Director Sean Dunne lets Mawhinney and the collection speak for themselves about the importance of such a historical archive.
Much of Mawhinney's library of recordings is comprised of music whose master tapes have been destroyed by the record companies over time, leaving Mawhinney the sole possessor of an enormous chunk of music history. In an age of terabyte hard drives filled with music, archival relevance has started to fade. Mawhinney's collection, worth approximately 50 million, remains unsold even at three.
The program offers compelling fiction as well, with Swedish filmmaker Andreas Tibblin's "Good Advice (Goda råd)." A ten-year-old boy decides to run away after experiencing a life of emotional neglect from his parents but not before leaving a tape recording of "good advice" for his unborn sibling. His parents find the recording and after listening, realize how parents can leave the stain of history on their children.
Thankfully, the story ends with a clever rug-puller in the last shot. Once again, a common and effective way to cap the sweet moments encapsulated in these shorts.