Disclaimer: This short film features some abhorrent language that I in no way condone. Viewer discretion advised.
I’m sure I’m probably starting to sound like a broken record here, but once again I looked at a map and selected a country at random. Today, I decided to go with Estonia, and after a couple of searches, I landed on True, a short film by Marta Pulk. And once again, I will never stop being amazed at how much a film can say in such a short time frame.
The premise of this film is simple. Five people are sitting in a line outside of a doctor’s office, waiting for their turn to be seen. One makes a comment that offends one of the others, and this sets off an escalating war of words in a matter of minutes. This film only runs for 15 minutes, and yet it manages to touch on so many issues in that time. And none of them particularly subtly. It also highlighted to me just how little I know about contemporary politics of other countries. I could infer the causes of some of the issues touched on through the dialogue. But more research is definitely needed if I want to fully understand what this film is saying about Estonian society today.
I will say that due to its content and the language used, this film makes for very uncomfortable viewing at times. So much so that I debated whether or not I should feature it at all. But it also ends with probably one of the best symbolic middle fingers to bigotry I’ve seen in a long time, so I decided to go with it. Just know that it’s rough going to get there.
Suggestions for artists I should check out? Please contact me with your ideas. I hope you enjoyed your daily helping of art!
