Doodlebug

Christopher Nolan is hands-down my favorite director so I had high expectations for this film. I was immensely disappointed with the confusing story that seemed to have no answer. It stood as a metaphor for something that needed no metaphor. It was interesting, but unfortunately not a masterpiece like much of his other work.

And it honestly isn't that bad. Christopher Nolan accomplished a mediocre twist (that's still a twist) in 3 minutes without using any words at all. I'm gonna do something else now instead of writing a summary that takes over 3 minutes.

I think anyone reading this knows what literally happened as far as the storyline goes. In a dingy apartment, a guy that looks possibly insane, carries a shoe as a little black figure scurries across the floor. But what or who is this creature? Who is the man? I think the man represents the human condition. Man is constantly at battle with those who are lesser than us. We feel the need to conquer and thus we are the ones who pose threat to ourselves. The man hitting the small version of himself with the shoe shows abstractly the very thesis i just said. In hurting others, he really only hurts himself. (i am finding out while writing this that there are several morals or messages that the director wanted to portray, and i am doing none of them justice)

Doodlebug (1997)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Christopher Nolan's directorial debut was this three minute B&W short. The film starts off with a man on the floor bouncing around trying to kill a bug with his shoe. He tries and tries to kill it but soon we realize something else is going on.

DOODLEBUG was a highly effective short that reminded me of the early work of David Lynch. The B&W cinematography perfectly captures a rather dark and moody atmosphere and I thought it certainly helped the film and its nightmare like quality. I'm not going to spoil the twist for those who haven't seen the film but I found it to be very good. Technically speaking this is a very impressive short and especially when you consider it was the first one Nolan had made. It certainly shows that there was a talent behind the camera. Fans of his should get a kick out of this film.

The short has a nice style, mysterious, eerie, noir ish. But I'm not completely engaged by the story or any kind of metaphor going on