GLORIOUS The short film of the Canadian theater director, who won the prize at the Berlinale 2012, vividly demonstrates the triumph of the short meter as an independent form of cinematography. The film, shot entirely on the paved serpentine of a high-rise building, on which cars climb to the parking lot, unfolds before the viewer the whole life of one person. In addition to several voiceovers, the film featured 8 songs and one expressive dance in the soul of the Pina Bausch plastic school. A voiceover precedes each performance with several lines. It's clearly the voice of a teenager telling the story of his uncle he never knew. An uncle who grew up in a funny place near Vancouver, where everything's so gay, soon becomes a dancer of men's ballet in a nightclub in New York, then finds himself in a psychiatric hospital, where he finds a spiritual connection with the vulnerable and sensual Judy Garland. Then the hero turns out to be a builder, then a prisoner, and in the end - a deeply addicted drug addict, unable to live on. And if all the previous numbers were bright and songy, then the death of the hero, of course, is shown by a sharp dance-crawling, resembling an epileptic seizure. Probably, according to the author, this is how the agony looks quite bright, but not lived a full life.
The wallet that the police find, or the thieves in the pockets of the corpse, will not say anything about the deceased. Only a kiss by Judy Garland on a napkin hidden in a hidden pocket, with words of gratitude and recognition of either a real movie star, or a cohabitant in a mental hospital, will be the only story of this lifeless body.
Despite the drama of the short and the lyrics, the film still looks easy, even festive. This is a real musical with a constant change of performers of the role of the main character (it was played in 25 minutes by three actors at once), original songs and rather funny dance numbers. If big cinema has long lost interest in buffoonery, self-irony and spontaneity, the short film “The Man Who Vanished” revives long-forgotten elements in its format. And even a lady with a detached look and a quiet voice very much resembles the real legendary Judy Garland. Bravo to the director! Bravo to the Berlin Film Festival!!
