The Gift

This is a short sci-fi film. You can see an imaginary Russian city in the future. It is very beautiful and is full of mysterious mood.

To be honest, I don't understand well what is happening in the movie. Many things happen one after another and there are few conversations. However, I enjoyed this film very much because the computer graphics is so elaborate and sophisticated. The car chase scene is amazing. The camera is set so that you can feel high speed of moving vehicles. In addition to that, zooming in and out is effectively used and that makes this movie more attractive.

You must be surprised at the beautiful computer graphics.

This short film is a bit thrilling and complicated. I could not understand what is going on in the story and most people would probably not be able to understand what the gift truly is the first time they watch it. However, after we figure it out, this short film's story becomes very clear. Also, though we do not understand what the gift truly is, we can not take our eyes off from the film because it makes us be drawn into it. The view of the world in this film is like a science fiction and there are some thrilling scenes. The scenes change at a dizzy speed and it ends very suddenly. I can not say what happens at the end, but I really want to see a continuation of this film. I recommend you to watch it a few times to figure out what the gift is and you will be satisfied by it.

It was very easy for me to be dragged into the world of sci-fi Russia. Mixtures of CGI and old fashioned Moscow was something worth watching for sure. However, there was "too much information" on the other hand, as a short film. As there is "high fantasy" and "low fantasy," we can say that the sub genre of this film is "low sci-fi". And since it is based on our real world, the question of asking "how?" was inevitable. For instance, I found my self getting interested in how Russia (or could it be Soviet still? Lots of questions) became a Robo-tech super nation rather than its main theme, "Gift" To conclude, I wanted to watch this in 90 minutes film.

A Russian man delivers a present to a wealthy man, but when it is opened, the box that is in it kills him. This leads to the box changing hands several times, always with destruction in its wake. The country is a combination of futurism with robots all over the place and a regular population in the shadow of the Kremlin. It is open to lots of interpretations but just a little too short on substance.

One thing that entertains me is the mysteries of this film; why is the mailman checked by means of the test on his tongue and what does the box contain? The mystery which remains a mystery made me think about this and that. The story unfolds leaving me behind, and it produces a kind of tension. Coupled with white snow backgrounds in which one won't see something living, the tension continues getting higher, and it glued my eyes to the screen. Other entertaining elements which take me to the other world is, for example, the combination of the present-day houses and the future-like technology seen in some places and scenes. The gap between them brings about unreality, and it seems to increase the mysteries. Although the gap is an effective element, it also seems unnatural; especially, the robot may look too high-technological. It is possible that the unnaturalness leads to funniness and breaks the serious mood on this film. However, I'm sure that the film is one which I can't take my eyes off of.