The Empty Building

A very enjoyable film by a thoughtful film maker. Great care went into this piece and it proves hard work can pay off. I liked the ideaa of a building where everything people are dealing with takes place. It was smart to keep it in the building and not go to different places like different locations. It intensified the stories by recreating locations. It had a twisted feel. I liked the sets very much. And the acting was very professional. I highly recommend seeing this film also because of the story. And that really makes it a winner for me. Very very enjoyable!!! I got a great press kit with mine. Lots of interesting information. Very funny how the director got his hands on this building in NY city. Very brave to take such a chance.

Throw in "bent" while you're at it. I saw the Empty Building at the Rivers Edge Film Festival just recently and I have to tell you, it is rich in every aspect of film-making. Most intriguing was how they fed the emotional mind-set of the characters visiting the building and what they were up against. My girlfriend and I both felt we visited the building ourselves. It was clearly retrospective. There was a lot going on within the story structure: past and present time, who's who at what age and at times I was confused, but as the story unraveled it all came together convincingly, most especially with the last shot in the movie; simple yet immensely profound. What a high note to slam a story's conclusion with. For me, the established "high end" directors get away with confusing without the risk of being alienated. I watch because there's a sense I won't be let down. Giovanni Sanseviero, the director(and great actor too) has according to his web site, done nothing prior to this directorial debut of his. Wow, we were too glued to even think of splitting. Giovanni deserves a lot for making a film that is by any standards conventional and that's what I guess caught us off guard. His choices are in the line of a handful of these directors that most definitely have their own unique fingerprint to their work. I think and hope Giovanni will be one of these. I scored a 9 out of 10 and the reason its just shy of perfect? It should have been a feature!

I saw this film a few years ago while I was screening flicks at the Newport Beach Film Festival. I still remember it and it was great. The direction and imagery laid over the misery of past events seemed almost natural as I was watching it. The audience is connected to the characters through the intense direction of the film and we wish we could save the characters someone from their past fate. The film keeps the audience connected to the characters throughout all shots and intervals. A great director is the making. Everything comes together in the films - the score coupled with the great direction, imagery and actors leads to a great short about such a horrible experience. I look forward to seeing more of his stuff.

For the past few years, there has been a monthly screening of short films from New York State "Emerging Filmmakers." I saw The Empty Building at the October 31, 2005 screening and it was not only one of my favorites from the series, but one of my favorite short films of all time.

It speaks of the horrors of our modern lives. It speaks of the things in each of our pasts that hold us back -- the subtle and the dramatic traumas that choke off the capacity to live our lives, demanding our attention to try and solve the unsolvable puzzle of how to unchain our present selves from the past. The answer is to change ourselves to accept what happened, but that's not such an easy path.

Thus, there is an empty building where we relive our fantasies and hash out that acceptance. Where we can go to embrace ourselves and our past selves and our successes and our failures. It's where those demons live and where we can look them straight in the eye and say goodbye.

Fabulous film-making, it was quite engaging. A real treat to watch and wonder. Felt more like I was exploring much like the characters. At first, I felt a little uneasy with the subject matters then realizing this is real stuff, it's life and the characters struggling for better understanding is a great dimension of mankind...hope. The Director, Giovanni handled things with great sensitivity and honor for the events depicted and never playing with emotional strings. He also exhibited great imagination to set up the story and where it all takes place. Bizare, Bizare! (Outstanding actor I should also mention. People will come to know his talents.)

Make more stories about people confronting the building. It will probably help a lot of people too. I think you'd like that. Thank you,

Patsy B.