Music for One Apartment and Six Drummers

I happened to catch this short on broadcast TV some time ago and it has stuck in my mind ever since.

While the owners are out walking their dog, six odd-looking Swedes break into their apartment and pretty much trash the place, but with style and rhythm.

Quirky, but compelling and wholly entertaining. I Can't think of a single way in which it could be improved.

Available on DVD as part of a compilation called SHORT6 (I managed to order a copy from Amazon.co.jp and it arrived this morning - YAY!).

Get hold of a copy now; you'll watch it over and over.

This is a rather amazing musical short, as it looked as if it took forever to choreograph it. As a couple leave their apartment, a group of six odd people watch and wait until they are gone. Then, like a strike team, they break into the house and go from room to room playing music using household items such as food processors, glasses and doors as they drum and drum rhythmically. It's very infectious and high quality, so you'll likely find yourself tapping your feet or moving to the music. It is a film that would probably appeal most to teens, though anyone can enjoy it. Plus, even if this "isn't your thing", you can't help but admire the actors and film makers as the film must have taken extraordinary efforts to coordinate all of this frenetic action.

Swedes are the most orderly people on the planet. Their sense of propriety is something that this American can only wonder about. That's why this little film escapes me.

The whole point of this is that the six folks who break in are not odd-looking, but quite ordinary and respectable looking. All the objects, even the objects in the bedroom are the most ordinary. The music itself is ordinary. The edge of the film is the confluence of these three ordinary elements: ordinary people where they don't belong, making music of things not so intended.

If you are not one who obsesses about order, then this will not have any resonance and will look like what it is, a student film.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Tradition has it that a short film proceeds the main features at film festivals, and Gothenburg Film Festival is no exception. I've seen shorts at this festival for ages, and they rank between annoyingly useless and downright masterpieces (such as "The wrong trousers"). "Six drummers..." is a story of six drummers who break into an apartment and make music on whatever they find inside (such as toasters, medicine packs, slippers and books). It's playful, innovative and a fresh breeze. The idea is superb, and the perfect timing of the actors/drummers is amazing. I sincerely hope that this film gets all the attention and appreciation it deserves and wins all awards available. Short films are often underrated and seldom shown. Perhaps this small masterpiece can convince theatre owners to add shorts before their feature showings. It can well be as effective for the whole cinema-going experience as an entre/appetizer can be for the whole dinner. "Six drummers..." puts you in the perfect mood for a complete movie experience. Plus, the music is amazing.

Martin, Sweden

This short film could have been titled "I got rhythm" for that indeed is what it is all about. Our homes as this film shows are filled to the brim with uncoordinated sounds e.g. the flapping of a blind, the clicking of a mouse trap, the rattle of coins in a money box. There is no end to it. My question is: When does sound become noise and when does noise become music? It's all to do with rhythm, and this film has it!

The six intruders in this apartment have lots of fun (despite their dead pan faces) with all manner of every day objects as they work together in a regular beat. I found myself totally involved nodding my head in time and tapping out the rhythm with my feet...waiting expectantly for the next object to come alive.

Although the percussion instruments kept up a regular beat, the orchestration of the sounds varied from ordinary to excellent. It is a fun film filled with ingenious ideas. It has no serious intent. Just sit back and enjoy the rhythm.