I love it when a short film plays around with expectations, Reflections on Dying does that within its short 9 ½ minute run time, which is a credit to writer/director (and star) Patrick Seda.
It starts with a car driving along, the driver (Patrick Seda) grabs a slice of pizza from a box on the passenger seat. His name, according to the box, is Dr Abe and the pizza has extra garlic. But as we watch him pull up and get out of the car, we also have a narration. The narration talks about not expecting to die – despite being old.
He retrieves something from the boot and retrieves his hat from the backseat of the car. There are business cards in the backseat for Abraham Venandi, MD, that say “Protect your Neck”… the pattern of the beard though… on the cartoon of Dr Abe… He walks off towards a house, the door slightly ajar when he tries it. Meanwhile the narration has been talking about his father, not his actual father but the one who made him what he is today… The narration also mentions his natural father and visits with him to watch scary movies in black and white.
As he enters the house, we see something outside darting past a window. Inside there is one of his cards, there are time’s dead flowers, brittle blooms, there are toys and we see, perhaps, the memory of the child who played with them. There are stairs to the basement. And the narration continues, talking about never having been hurt, though that’s a lie… he was burnt once when revelry overcame caution and he was out as the sun rose…
I’ll stop there, with Abe venturing into the basement. This is a neat and compact little film. It has some lovely touches both centred around expectation and also in things like a neck-protecting prop… Definitely one that is worth your time.
The imdb page is here.
It starts with a car driving along, the driver (Patrick Seda) grabs a slice of pizza from a box on the passenger seat. His name, according to the box, is Dr Abe and the pizza has extra garlic. But as we watch him pull up and get out of the car, we also have a narration. The narration talks about not expecting to die – despite being old.
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| business cards |
He retrieves something from the boot and retrieves his hat from the backseat of the car. There are business cards in the backseat for Abraham Venandi, MD, that say “Protect your Neck”… the pattern of the beard though… on the cartoon of Dr Abe… He walks off towards a house, the door slightly ajar when he tries it. Meanwhile the narration has been talking about his father, not his actual father but the one who made him what he is today… The narration also mentions his natural father and visits with him to watch scary movies in black and white.
 |
| Patrick Seda as Dr Abe |
As he enters the house, we see something outside darting past a window. Inside there is one of his cards, there are time’s dead flowers, brittle blooms, there are toys and we see, perhaps, the memory of the child who played with them. There are stairs to the basement. And the narration continues, talking about never having been hurt, though that’s a lie… he was burnt once when revelry overcame caution and he was out as the sun rose…
 |
| with extra garlic |
I’ll stop there, with Abe venturing into the basement. This is a neat and compact little film. It has some lovely touches both centred around expectation and also in things like a neck-protecting prop… Definitely one that is worth your time.
The imdb page is here.
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