Green Eyed is set in the 1980's world of big business, stock- brokers, or any other Corporate world where image is everything, and those inside it are driven by success and the desire to have whatever the next person has – whether it be cars, property, money, position, women, or just the rarest of cigars from a long-burnt-down factory. In this world we have this story where ambitious young Lloyd, who is throwing a lavish party to impress his boss, but finds his jealousy increasing as another of his colleagues seems to be taking his limelight and outdoing him.
As an allegory, the film is a bit blunt in what it does because, to provide a sort of spoiler, the colleague who is outdoing Lloyd, is some form of monster that only he seems to be able to see for what he really is. So at the same time we not only have this creature being the source of Lloyd's jealous rage, but also being the manifestation of it since the film loops around on itself. It sounds clever and to a point it is, although it is perhaps not as smart as it would have liked to have been. Although it is not subtle though, it works really well because of its delivery. The most obvious thing is how well it places the film in the 80's. The soundtrack is the most obvious part of that (the end credits being a particular joy) but the choice of location, cars, costumes, all really get it right. In fact the only problem I had with it in this regard was that, since so much of this was bang on, the accents then stood out – I am so expecting American accents in this world, that the Ozzie one didn't totally fit – a minor complaint that probably won't hit everyone, but it bugged me a bit.
The bigger issue could have been that we have an actual monster kicking around a party, entertaining people and cracking wise (to them) while to the lead character and ourselves, it just seems like some of grey monster has been pushed into a suit and should be terrifying everyone. This absurdity works because it manages to not break the more dramatic flow of the narrative itself, but at the same time it stands on its own as enjoyably fantastic as an idea. I didn't know anything about the short when I sat to watch it, so there was a certain pleasure of this sudden reveal early on – and then the idea that the film carries out being about Lloyd's competitiveness, and not about, for example, the fact that there is a freaking monster at a party. This clash of tones was handled very well and generally held me till the end.
The performances are perhaps not perfect (although I will be honest and say that maybe that was the 80's style and the accents rather than their actual performances); and the film itself is pretty blunt as a piece of satirical comment, but it still works thanks to how well it sticks to its goal, while also at the same time having this absurd piece of fantasy kicking around in plain sight too.
As an allegory, the film is a bit blunt in what it does because, to provide a sort of spoiler, the colleague who is outdoing Lloyd, is some form of monster that only he seems to be able to see for what he really is. So at the same time we not only have this creature being the source of Lloyd's jealous rage, but also being the manifestation of it since the film loops around on itself. It sounds clever and to a point it is, although it is perhaps not as smart as it would have liked to have been. Although it is not subtle though, it works really well because of its delivery. The most obvious thing is how well it places the film in the 80's. The soundtrack is the most obvious part of that (the end credits being a particular joy) but the choice of location, cars, costumes, all really get it right. In fact the only problem I had with it in this regard was that, since so much of this was bang on, the accents then stood out – I am so expecting American accents in this world, that the Ozzie one didn't totally fit – a minor complaint that probably won't hit everyone, but it bugged me a bit.
The bigger issue could have been that we have an actual monster kicking around a party, entertaining people and cracking wise (to them) while to the lead character and ourselves, it just seems like some of grey monster has been pushed into a suit and should be terrifying everyone. This absurdity works because it manages to not break the more dramatic flow of the narrative itself, but at the same time it stands on its own as enjoyably fantastic as an idea. I didn't know anything about the short when I sat to watch it, so there was a certain pleasure of this sudden reveal early on – and then the idea that the film carries out being about Lloyd's competitiveness, and not about, for example, the fact that there is a freaking monster at a party. This clash of tones was handled very well and generally held me till the end.
The performances are perhaps not perfect (although I will be honest and say that maybe that was the 80's style and the accents rather than their actual performances); and the film itself is pretty blunt as a piece of satirical comment, but it still works thanks to how well it sticks to its goal, while also at the same time having this absurd piece of fantasy kicking around in plain sight too.
