Negative Space

Beautiful animation. Sometimes death just leaves behind some weird trademarks from the person who is no longer with us. I completely identify with this little story. Its emotion is in its simplicity. The negative space for me is also the negative space in the heart of this little boy who has grown up and could never connect more with his dad.

Some creative and inventive moments. The underwater bits were great. I really enjoyed how the animation brought the various luggage components to life. But the entire short was a set-up for one punchline at the end, basically. The ending was good, and got laughs out of everyone in the theater, but it wasn't enough to justify the whole 5 minutes spent before it.

The animation was creative and pleasant to watch, but the audio (in English) was grating throughout. Sounded amateur, compared to the level of quality of animation and the overall level of quality of all the other Oscar nominated shorts. The narrator sounded like he was speaking into a cheap microphone, the sound effects didn't sync up evenly with the visuals, and the volume was too loud.

This was the worst of the Oscar nominated animation shorts I watched for 2017.

A film about relation son-father. Simple, touching, cold, precise. In same measure, a diagnosis about everyday relations from near reality and a portrait of the love in special form. For a boy- a great movie. For the subtle way to translate in image profound, defining truths. A boy, a too busy father, a suitcase and the funeral of the parent. A terrible, poetic last observation of the son. And the image of car-zipper on a huge suitcase as reflection of wise manner to give a profound message.

I'm not usually a fan of stop motion, but this animated short completely exceeded my expectations. I initially underestimated it after reading the outline, but I was proven wrong.

First, the story is emotional, touching, and deeply relatable. It genuinely feels like it's drawn from someone's real-life experiences-particularly the relationship with a father who was often away traveling for work, while other kids' dads were at home playing with them. Yet, despite the distance, a meaningful bond was formed through the suitcase. The film even manages to slip in a bit of humor along the way.

Second, the visual creativity is outstanding. The symbolism throughout is powerful, and several scenes-like the zipper moment and the ocean sequences-are absolutely brilliant and visually stunning. It's not something I ever expected to say about a stop motion animation.

As we venture through the years, how much that we do is important? The relationship a son has with his absentee father occasionally comes back to how to pack a suitcase, how to get the most out of the space we have. I felt truly sad at the conclusion of this film. What have we done to take what little we have?