Review of Reindeer

Reindeer (2011)
Lack of context and information is a shame, but images are great
3 April 2014
To call Reindeer a documentary is probably not correct because one would normally come to a documentary film expecting to be informed about a person, a situation or an event. With Reindeer Eva Weber doesn't really inform us of anything and in some regards this is a shame because it would at least have interesting to have a bit of text on the screen telling us where we were, what the context was, things like this. Fortunately watching it via the internet means you can read the blurb below the video so you get to understand that sort of detail, although watching it in such a way also has a downside as you are watching a small screen.

For this film that is a problem because you get the feeling that this work deserves a bigger screen and as high a resolution as possible because it is all about the images. Although it is only a few minutes long, the cinematography is great and the camera seems to benefit from the very cold crisp air (or if not benefit then it captures that sense). The choice of shots is also very good and everything is filmed with a good eye – so the impressive sight of animals herding is delivered but with a nice through-shot where we mostly see antlers etc. Smaller shots through darkness and snow are also filmed and well presented as images – it doesn't need repeating that I have no technical knowledge or skill, however the little I do know makes me appreciate the challenge of shooting in darkness and/or in snow. As a collection of images and sounds, the short film is worth a look because it does have a certain beauty to it, however this is all it has since it offers nothing in terms of information or commentary, which is a shame.
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