FILM OF THE MONTH

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Directed by Brandy Seymour/ Reviewed by Biplab Das If you love sci-fi movies, then Fujiyama is your film. The use of animation, CGI, and lighting creates a perfect ambiance for a sci-fi film. The length of the film is not too long. It’s just 9:21 minutes. So you can understand the importance of time. Rather than a story, the film will excite you with its representation. The way director used CGI to give a futuristic look is commendable. As I said earlier, if you like a sci-fi movie, then get into the world of Fujiyama. People who like science fiction will surely love it, as I said earlier. But also if you love thrillers, you’ll love the film. As an audience, you may disappoint the way the movie ended, but I think the director keeps the movie open-ended. She has left the interpretations open for the audience. However, you might get stumped with the amount of thought put behind animation and CGI. You will get to see some new and futuristic ideas. While watching the film, you may wonder about how gadgets and technology will control our future. Nonetheless, you will get the taste of a highly-technologized future. Brandy Seymour, the director of the film, tries to give a sneak-peak of a future that we are still unaware of. The way she uses different mediums like animation and CGI is commendable. Matt Maynard, the DOP of the film, is so good. He is successful in creating a world through his camera that is not known to us. All the actors are successful in creating a world that is creepy and yet exciting. The film is penned by Crystal Ash, Gin Wills, Liz Richie, and Brandy Seymour. All four have written a story that is not only futuristic but also has some macho elements into it. The story of the short is simple. Two futuristic lady cops are on a mission to track down and catch criminals in a world that is driven by gadgets and technology. The setting of the film is thought-provoking. The ideas put behind to create a futuristic world make the short worth watching. Interestingly, in the film, it is shown that the cops are technologically more advanced than the criminals. However, if you dive deep, the film shows the real criminals are always ahead technologically than the smaller ones. This difference is present in today’s world in which we see that criminals are far more technologically advanced than the cops. Coming back to the film, you will see some great gadgets and their use in the film. The story has an emotional side that depicts a woman becomes a victim out of need. The film is a critique of the police force which looks successful but in a larger perspective, they are a failure. This futuristic, gadget-oriented film looks stone-cold from its look. But the story tells the humanistic side of the people in a highly technology-oriented world. The director believes that in the future ordinary people will become more vulnerable. Technologically advanced criminals will exploit innocent people and police will unable to catch the big fishes. It would become tough for humans to identify humans and robots. Artificial intelligence will become more potent and powerful. The world that has portrayed in the film looks glossy but lacks empathy. I like the vision of the director in Fujiyama. The director is not happy with the way things are moving with technology and human life. In a technocratic world, ordinary, vulnerable people will find it hard to adapt to technology. The corrupt and powerful people will rule the world. The failure of the two cops is a reflection of a system that fails to confront the powerful. I give 3 stars out of 5 to Fujiyama.