Death of a Wizard

Did exactly what a good short ought to do - Hooked me, drew me in and when I caught in the momentum of the story and characters, shocked me with a brutal and savage ending.

Death of a WIzard offers a beautifully grim snapshot of a time and place that I remember only ephemerally from my youth, but it evokes that era perfectly. I think the only other film I have seen to use the B&W format this effectively in conveying small-town American life was The Last Picture Show, and that was 40 years ago! And of course it is to a very different end here...

La Hein was probably a large influence on the director (as well as early Darren Arronofsky films like Pi) but it still has enough of its own thing going on to feel fresh and captivating. Dialogue is very lean and memorable despite some stereotypical "redneck" secondary characters I could have lived without (the weakest scene in the film for me).

This is probably the kind of film that will polarize people quite a bit; I don't know how this is doing on the festival front but if the audience I saw the film with is any indication, it's a pretty clear "love it or hate it" affair. I'm leaning toward the former despite some hesitant feelings about the ending, which felt like an abrupt and violent cop-out without wanting to spoil things too much...Kudos for a sparse but eerie musical score as well - creepy choral music isn't really what I associate with stories like this, but it worked really well in-context.

Not for everyone, but a visceral and evocative short that show a lot of promise. I felt like I had been punched in the gut when all was said and done and if that were the filmmaker's intent, they sure as hell succeeded on that front!

W

Saw this at an LA showcase (same on the previous reviewer attended most likely?) and I was extremely impressed. Great characters, great atmosphere. Nailed the era to a Tee. A haunting ending that didn't feel mean-spirited or out of place to me at all if you consider it from a symbolic standpoint - The final image carries far more weight than that...

At the core this is a story about three terribly misguided young men trying to do right by themselves and their loved ones but, backed into a corner by society, instead lash out in the most violent of ways and in the process lower themselves to a level worse than their adversary to begin with. This was a BIG story to tell in 15 minutes and it is to the credit of the director, editor and writers that they were able to pull it off so successfully. This will definitely not be for "everybody" but I imagine fans of violent 70's cinema (or maybe even more relevantly, the film 'Mississippi Burning', to which this seems to play homage once or twice) will lap this one up.

As others have said, cinematography is gorgeous through and through; The decision to shoot on film as opposed to easier and more relevant digital capture methods paid dividends. Likewise the scope/execution of recreating the south in 1968 is handled with a strong attention to detail - sold me on that one. It is perhaps all the more impressive to learn that this was executed for only around $5,000, all in!

I'm not sure how much exposure this has received from the film festival world but I hope and imagine that it won't be long until we hear from these young filmmakers again. It is my understanding that one of the writers is kin to Forest Whitaker, and hopefully that kind of clout will help give the film momentum even though the story and execution have strong legs unto themselves!

Great work! 9/10.

I saw a screening of this at Universal Studios LA at a young filmmaker's showcase, and to put it lightly, I was highly impressed.

I definitely got a "Raging Bull"-type vibe from the evocative black and white cinematography and the two male leads really sold me and lent a tremendous amount of pathos to their characters, esp. considering how little screen time we had with them.

One of the most impressive facets of the short was how well the filmmakers managed to sell the era. The film absolutely drips with the atmosphere of the 1960's in a way that a lot of well-budgeted feature often don't succeed.

There are a few minor shortcomings and the ending is one that will probably polarize viewers - let's just say that there's no silver linings for our protagonists - but that didn't ruin the 15 or so minutes of gripping, well-crafted filmmaking that proceeded it.

Very interested to see what these young filmmakers do next!