La dernière voix

Short films aren't the sort of thing people line up for at the box office, but some do have impressive production values that make you wonder if they should be regarded as features. What happens when you have a great or interesting idea for a story, but you cannot populate 90 minutes with it?

The City Without Windows.

Let's just hope this film gets added to a DVD collection so it can be seen by more people. Although it's not a violent, nor gory film, I would definitely rank it alongside Nacho Cerda's excellent, but very gory "Aftermath".

I have seen this film in September in Toronto with my girlfriend and I thought I needed to spread the word on its qualities (especially since short films often have a tough time to get a buzz going). What amazed me was the film's ambitious setting and the way it was playing with images to deal with a world where communication has died. As mentioned I saw it with my girlfriend and for once we agreed totally (something that happens so rarely, that I need to mentioned it). She mentioned me that it reminded her of Beaudelaire... I personally liked the dark fantasy element which I thought is lacking in most fantastic films aiming cheaply this days to retro or teenage oriented elements. All in all it made us feel adult, provoked thoughts and somewhere along the way emotions were felt. All that and more made it a winner in our book. I do not know if it played anywhere else... but if it does I am happy for its makers.

Not only is "La Derniere Voix" a surreal fable, it is also the perfect short film.

Visually, it's like a cross between David Lynch's "Industrial Symphony No. 1", Andrei Tarkovsky's "Stalker", and Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner".

Storywise, it is a fabulous blend of irony, quiet horror, desperation, and sometimes even some hints of a cautionary tale, without ever being preachy. The issues of humanity's dependence on technology, race relations, not to mention the definition of love itself are all presented in the film, which also includes one of the most haunting ambient scores in recent years.

Fans of Karim Hussain's "Subconscious Cruelty" will not find what they are looking for here, as "La Derniere Voix" does not dwell on gory imagery to get it's point across. The film, although under 15 minutes long, feels like a feature, with great production values, and a clear indication that Karim Hussain is a director with a vision.

I saw this at the FCMM festival in Montreal, and I was really impressed by the poetic atmosphere and beautiful story. The photography, music and sets were amazing, and it seemed like a strange fairy tale the way the voice over told the history of what was happening. Overall I think this is one of the most impressive short films I saw coming from Quebec, and I would recommend it to any fans of artistic films, or strange fantasy movies. Perhaps horror movie fans won't like this, so despite the dark story, it is more of a romance or film for fans of Tarkovsky or David Lynch's films than typical horror movies.

I can't wait to see what these director's do next. This is one of the best short films I have seen.