Art happens when humans communicate some part of the human condition to other humans. Whether it's futility, love, loss, humor, or tragedy, true art has a lasting impact rooted in genuine emotion.
Such is the case with Makoto Nagahisa's 'And So We Put Goldfish in the Pool.' A distinctive debut short film with a signature voice, 'Goldfish' follows four fifteen-year-old girls who we come to understand profoundly within the 27-minute running time. Nagahisa has a brilliantly light touch, straining the girls' monologues through a series of kinetic montages not unlike 'Run Lola Run.'
The group deals primarily with the doldrums of small-town life, but Nagahisa wisely doesn't patronize. Even the off-the-wall moments of comedy and magical realism he employs don't feel as much like a cinematic construction as they do a whimsical illustration of the onset of angst.
There is a period in all of our lives when we haven't grown up yet, and we'd like to, but we're still deciding whether or not it's a cool thing to do. Many films have explored this highway of early pubescence, but 'Goldfish' is so fresh and original in its take that it threatens to leap off the screen and take you on an adventure.
Maybe, as the ending suggests, suburban frustration is part of the adventure of life. After all, the rest of the film tells us it can be just as vibrant as what we dream will come next.
Such is the case with Makoto Nagahisa's 'And So We Put Goldfish in the Pool.' A distinctive debut short film with a signature voice, 'Goldfish' follows four fifteen-year-old girls who we come to understand profoundly within the 27-minute running time. Nagahisa has a brilliantly light touch, straining the girls' monologues through a series of kinetic montages not unlike 'Run Lola Run.'
The group deals primarily with the doldrums of small-town life, but Nagahisa wisely doesn't patronize. Even the off-the-wall moments of comedy and magical realism he employs don't feel as much like a cinematic construction as they do a whimsical illustration of the onset of angst.
There is a period in all of our lives when we haven't grown up yet, and we'd like to, but we're still deciding whether or not it's a cool thing to do. Many films have explored this highway of early pubescence, but 'Goldfish' is so fresh and original in its take that it threatens to leap off the screen and take you on an adventure.
Maybe, as the ending suggests, suburban frustration is part of the adventure of life. After all, the rest of the film tells us it can be just as vibrant as what we dream will come next.