Graffiti

Shock, Awe, Amazement, and Hope colored Edgar's face as he stared at four simple letters. ANNA. Adrenaline courses through his body as he excitedly rushes over to the wall to write his own name. Graffiti is a beautiful short film that encapsulates the beauty in chaos. This film features a man named Edgar living in the chaotic wasteland of Chernobyl seven years after the nuclear tragedy that claimed thousands of lives. The film displays a conversation made through graffiti on a wall between the protagonist Edgar and an unknown woman known to be Anne, and demonstrates the beauty in a simple series of messages. This film proves how important companionship is to human beings, and how being left alone can cause one to lose their sanity.

Released in 2015, this film was one of the first to actually be shot in the wasteland of Chernobyl. After testing for radiation in certain locations, they found a few areas where filming was safe enough. Being in the actual setting itself really enhances the effect of the horror in being the only one. This film won 16 awards, and was nominated for 3 others, with notable ones being the Filmmaker international film festival (2016) and the Best Shorts Competition (2016).

This film pulls readers in through the unusual setting, as well as the eerie silence of being alone. The pure simplistic beauty of a graffiti conversation, and the grand reveal of the wall covered in graffiti is extraordinary, and juxtaposes the feeling of loneliness with connection to another. It is a film that is relatable, and gives viewers a longing feeling of missing their loved ones. Most importantly, it teaches us to not take the ones we love for granted. On the contrary, this film has a few holes that leave viewers with questions. It is very implausible that Edgar was able to survive out in a radiated filled wasteland for 7 years, especially with the lack of edible, non-contaminated food. However, the positives heavily outweigh the missing questions and links, and makes this film well worth a watch for anyone that places large emphasis on companionship.

A post-apocalyptic film that you might relate to. Set in the ruins Pripyat, Ukraine, Oriol Pla plays the role of Edger, a lonely survivor of the "incident". His life is a monotony of scavenging through irradiated ruins. But his life is given meaning once he spots the name "Anna" graffitied onto the wall.

Lluís Quílez puts a relatively mundane story into the form of a post-apocalyptic drama in a way I found appealing. I have to give them credit for filming in such a cool location in the bitter cold. Though it leaves you with many questions, which may or may not be a good thing. Though I find that the film could have been a couple minutes shorter without sacrificing the impression of monotony at the beginning of the film.

Greetings again from the darkness. Here's yet another post-apocalyptic story, and it even borrows "a boy and his dog" from I Am Legend (2007). However, within minutes, we are drawn in by the stillness of the setting, and the foreboding, snow-covered surroundings that this singular character explores each day.

Director Lluis Quilez co-wrote the screenplay with Javier Guillen, and connects us to the young man as he, "seven years after the incident", trudges in the snow between abandoned buildings. He checks for radiation while scavenging for food and useful items. He marks each building as safe or not, and even sends out pleas for help … just in case. His tool of choice is a can of black spray paint.

One day he is startled as the daily trek brings him back to his lair with the name "Anna" spray pointed on a wall sign. Suddenly he has hope for companionship and the possible end of loneliness. Over the next few days we learn much about the two teenagers. Anna is 19 years old, and Edgar is 17. In fact, the wall exchanges play like a post-apocalyptic version of our modern day dating apps. Personal information is exchanged and a relationship and bond is developed through only the painted exchanges.

The imagery and visuals of the film are top notch, and the message seems to be that hope is a driving force not just for characters in survival stories, but for all of us. Is it possible that the hope of personal connection may even be a stronger motivator than survival itself?

The short film Graffiti takes us on a journey through the life of a young man named Edgar who is left alone, hopeless in a city evacuated due to a tragic accident. The viewers have no background information about the man or the city other than the fact that "the incident" occurred 7 years ago. Edgar was somehow left behind and is now alone in the unknown city with only his Dog keeping him company. We also see that during the day he goes out into the city to search for things he can take home with him like books and resources such as canned foods and water. As he walks through the town, he also carries a radiation detector and spray paint when he enters buildings, and marks an asterix where it is contaminated and an O where it is safe. One day he comes home, and finds "ANNA" spray painted on one of his walls. At first he was startled, but then he realized that the name meant that he isn't in this city alone. From there on out Edgar and Anna start communicating through the wall, but Edgar never sees Anna.

In my opinion, the film Graffiti was very well done. Everything from the somber lighting and isolated wide shots to the insight into Edgar's life through experiencing it with him, was executed tastefully and with purpose. With every new shot and scene there were endless symbols left for analysis by the director. Even what seemed to be small details such as gloomy trees in the background were carefully articulated. Right from the beginning of the film they were obstructing the environment around them and drew attention to themselves by how much of the shot they took up in multiple scenes. In my mind, they also served as a symbol. Trees usually symbolize life and growth whereas in the film they all seem dead in a place of decay and destruction. It shows a juxtaposed meaning with not only the trees but the city, as a symbol of something that once thrived and held life which is now left deserted and forgotten.

Another notable thing to mention was the fact that almost everything in the film was left to the viewer's interpretation, which was very clearly made to do so. The director meant to make a very observable film to grab a viewer's attention by using suspense and making them think on every detail they otherwise wouldn't look twice at. Such as Edgar's relationship with Anna. From the start we know that Edgar is lacking a companion in his life, so when he starts communicating with Anna he starts to gain hope in what he thought was a hopeless, lonely world. Things seemed to be looking up for him, Anna seemed to help him survive. But as the film progresses, the possibility of Anna being real decreases and the likelihood that Edgar is imagining her as a coping mechanism increases. It puts the viewer at a crossroads on what to believe. It makes you look at everything and analyze it, looking for anything that hints at what's really happening. There was never a definitive answer on the reality of the events, only symbols and hidden meaning with which viewers could choose to piece together to form a conclusive ending. That's what I found so interesting about the way Graffiti was made, every individual watching has their own experiences and thoughts which they use to form a view of the film. Every person's interpretation will be different, and therefore the plot of the film has endless ways of unraveling.

Graffiti was filmed in Chernobyl which I find very significant to the film and the tone that it's set in. The Chernobyl disaster took place in 1986 in the town of Pripyat, found in northern Ukraine. It was a nuclear tragedy which left nearly 14,000 people evacuating their homes and leaving everything behind out of fear of their belongings being contaminated by radiation. The tragedy, along with the fact that nearly everything was left as is, sets a very eerie setting for the film and establishes a sense of mystery while invoking feeling in viewers.

Lluis Quilez, the director of the short film Graffiti stated in an interview that his intent with the film was to "talk about the Platonic or idealized love for someone whom you can not see". I think that he achieved this beautifully. His universalized ideas and concepts reiterate this idea of love with a hidden person by taking viewers through the intriguing love story of Edgar and Anna. In the film, when Edgar started communicating with Anna through graffiti on the wall, I immediately thought of technology and social media. Currently, almost everyone communicates through the internet in one way or another. There are countless dating apps, websites, and social media outlets out there which are used daily by the majority of the world's population. So many people meet and in some cases fall in love over texting online, and like Edgar with the graffiti, oftentimes it is mainly through a barrier. Whether it be a screen or a wall, you have no idea who is on the other side. It can be who you think it is but it can also be someone completely different from what you thought. This furthers the idea of idealized love established by Quilez where an individual falls in love with someone who they don't truly know. On one hand it shows that love is border-less and possible even when you don't fully know a person, but on the other hand, not entirely knowing who you are communicating with can be a disappointment when you uncover the reality.

I would highly recommend this film to mystery lovers and people who enjoy analysis, because within the short 30 minutes in which this film takes place, there is so much to unpack and think about. The entire plot and especially the ending is inconclusive, there is no definitive answer for anything which means you get to analyze and interpret the film and it's ending as you see fit. Even though I love this film, I understand why others wouldn't. A lot of people like to know what's happening during a film and have a happy, or at least conclusive ending, but the ending of Graffiti ends with an unbelievable cliffhanger that leaves you at the edge of your seat. The film also has a mysterious feel to it which some viewers who prefer happier films may not like as it leaves you with an eerie feeling and uncertainty.

A radiated and disaster-ridden city filled with tranquility and quietude? After watching the film, you can easily observe into the directors mind of genius and prowess.

The not so short film, "Graffiti" explores a post apocalyptic setting surrounding the tragedy that occurred at Chernobyl in 1986. "7 years after the incident," an abandoned Edgar and his dog tramp through the harsh winter snow searching for, and marking radiated areas of the city using what is known as a Geiger counter. After another average day of using graffiti to mark the walls, Edgar goes home to make the discovery of a name written on his wall, "Anna," which tumbles Edgars life into a hole of difficult decisions.

Mixing a tragedy and love story into one in an art form such as this will always remind me of William Shakespeare's work, and it seems that this short film also follows his original formatting as well. Going from barely knowing each other to making sacrifices for the other person in a matter of weeks is not the most realistic circumstance, but it is unbelievably fascinating mostly because of how unrealistic the circumstances are. Director Lluis Quilez mentioned in an interview that he wanted the storyline to be based around the, "long tradition of love stories that have grown through long distance letters or messages," which he mentioned in an interview. This furthers my ideas of him following "tradition" and using the most common formatting for love stories which I honestly think is smart, because if anything traditional love stories are the easiest to follow in today's society because us as humans see them everywhere. Mixing the idea of this familiarity of traditional love with the unfamiliarity of disaster is what makes this short film so well executed.

Tying back into the main theme of tragic love, I realized that I enjoy this film mostly for the silence and suspense that they built and how it always had me wondering, "what's going to happen next?" I also can appreciate how the title is a bit of an oxymoron when compared to the silence of the film, considering that graffiti spraying is some of the loudest sound to happen in this film overall. Additionally it is interesting that the winter setting predetermined placidity in the opening scenes even before we met our main character, which is fitting considering that winter is a symbol for darkness and the death of an era which ties back to the original theme of tragedy. These are a few of the many reasons and hidden devices they use to further explore the theme and keep the viewers of the film encapsulated.

There isn't much criticism I have about the film, but the only thing I would like to mention is the ambiguity of the ending. Leaving it on a cliffhanger and not ending this (long) short story on a specific conclusion, whether happy or sad, doesn't give the viewer enough satisfaction in myself and many others cases and just isn't a great way to cut the story off. I do understand wanting to leave the interpretation of if Anna is real or not up to the viewer, but after watching for thirty minutes, I believe that they already left enough time for this idea to be interpreted and that they could have ended the story with the truth.