short film review 2 - love on the wing

 Love on the wing (Norman Mclaren, 1939)

Love on the Wing (1939 BFI - free to watch)

description

love on the wing is a 1939 short film that was made as an advertisement for the post office but was denied to be used after the postmaster general sees the advert as he claimed it to heavily feature what he called "Freduian imagery". the film appears to be about someone writing a letter to confess his love for someone and then we see inside of his head and the thoughts or the visions of the future after he posts his letter. in the visions we see the couple marry, get heartbroken and get divorced before the man seemingly chases back the letter and wins back the woman before we go back out to the letter the man was writing at the beginning addressed to someone and then the film fades to black.

analysis

the narrative follows through a mans perspective as we start the film with the letter he was writing turning into a man and engaging with flirtatious talk to a woman figure. this aligns us with the man as the main character we follow through the short. the film symbolises the power of one letter sent by someone and shows the aftereffects of what could follow if he goes through with the decision of sending the letter. one of the shots depicts the couple arguing and the man being beaten with a large letter whilst the woman turns into a phallic image of a penis. this links it back to the "freudian imagery" it was criticised of using as this relates to his theory of castration and the topic of penis envy in which girls are envious they don't have a penis and so will want to hurt the man. this may explain why she turns into phallic imagery in the scene.

reflection

love on the wings is a short experimental film that follows through as an early advert for the royal mail conveying the message of that if you use the royal mail it will be with you throughout your life no matter what happens as throughout the film, letters are featured prominently and used as plot devices such as when the man is being beaten or when the couple get marries they turn into two letters and the final shot ends the film right back at the beginning with a letter being finished and addressed to whoever the man is sending the letter to. overall it is an artsy film that was rejected to be aired to the public for violent themes, phallic imagery and freudian thoughts and theory but tells the story of a couple going through the stages of love and divorce and the journey they take in life.

Bibliography

BFI - love on the wings

Short Film Review 1 - He Dies At The End (Damian McCarthy, 2008)

He Dies At The End (HDATE) is a short 4 and a half minute horror film about the silent fear of being alone and someone is watching you, ready to pounce at any given moment.

the film follows a man working in an office alone and suddenly he recieves a link which he clicks and it takes him to a quiz which starts asking him questions such as "is it quiet there?" and "if you screamed would somebody hear you". this causes the man to keep checking around him and start to fear the quiz and the questions he is being asked. this shows the conflict he feels in continuing the quiz since he begins to doubt and worry that there is someone watching him in the shadows. 

the end of the film culminates in a reveal of how the man will die and completes the mans journey in the film revealing his fears to be true and his inner conflict of someone watching. the film plays with the emotion of fear throughout and keeps the spectator on edge and in the mindset of the character since we don't know whether he is alone or not either.

in conclusion HDATE is a film that knows how to keep the spectator on edge and aligns you well with the main characters conflicts and fears.

He Dies At The End (Youtube)