thelorddoctor

I have no other choice but to give it a 10. It is a beautiful movie. Yes, the theme is "war" but the subject isn't. I saw it as a movie purely about friendship and nothing else. Yes, both boys lost their innocence due to the cruelty of war. Yes, their friendship got to be tested quite a few times throughout the movie but at the end it was their friendship that saved both boys.

Both boy actors, Maas Bronhuyzen and Joes Brauens were terrific. They conveyed their feelings and emotions in a way a seasoned actor would do. Dialogs were short and to the point without wasting viewers time with lengthy conversations trying to convince viewers about main characters feelings, emotions and thoughts. In three specific scenes the facial expressions, the emotion and the acting in general felt very real and convincing. The ending scene sealed the movie and the friendship and with no doubt it became obvious that both friends have their hearts set in the right place.

If you haven't seen it yet, make an effort then.

I watched this short film a few minutes ago and read the one and only review posted. I also found this short film heartwarming but did not find it "shallow" in any way or form. "Paul" the main character does indeed suffer from an anxiety or rather fears to talk to others. At the opening scene without knowing Paul or his past when he sees other kids playing and his brief hesitation one thing becomes obvious; he doesn't have friends and might have been ridiculed or being ignored for a reason that we still don't know yet but are about to find out very quickly. Watching the movie and following the conversations two things became obvious; Paul's parents are one of those "all the time" busy parents. Dad works and travels out of the city if not the country and Mom is also busy at the office or the shop or etc. Paul is left alone to fend for himself and the closest person to him is his Oma (grandmother), someone Paul visits and communicate with, someone he is at ease to communicate with. It seems Paul is suffering from lack of communication when he was younger and even though he can speak he hasn't developed the skills to communicate easily like everyone else yet. It feels like Paul is being ignored by his peers as well as his parents and the only person who actually pays any attention to him is his Oma and later on a dog and its owner. At a point when he is helping Oma picking apples and she sings a tune and asks Paul to chime in he declares "I can't speak so many words". That one statement right there explains his problem with putting words together to speak. The breakthrough for Paul comes when an accident or an unfortunate event in the eyes of the viewers and a disaster in the eyes of Paul happens. The outcome of this unfortunate event is the breaking point to reverse the roles for Paul and Oma. In my opinion the movie ends well enough with Paul being able to do one thing that he has wished to do for a very long time. In general the movie being a short one delivers the message it intends to. We all know how hard it is to deliver a message in a short film without running out of time. The dialog certainly has room for improvement, in fact it requires improvement but it is enough to deliver the movie. Thilo Berndt acting is considerably well and shows talent. His facial expressions and mood changes go with the film and is related to the scenes. Congratulations to the director/writer of this film Sarah Winkenstette for directing Thilo Brendt to perform appropriately for each scene considering this was Thilo's first ever acting job. My rating for this short film is 8/10.