It isn't often that I stumble upon a video that currently sits above 12 million views that turns out to be this visually gorgeous. I fell in love with the eye-popping marriage of the various aspects of the cinematography here; from the vibrantly colourful production design to the meticulous framing of each individual shot. As a result, not once do I find any point of this film to be visually dull.
My favourite example of frames being lovingly filled with details for the audience's eyes to play around, would be the montage of teachers making complaints about the main character to the camera. Such a joy to look at.
I immediately find this charm reminiscent of what I have seen from clips of the works of Wes Anderson (I've seen another reviewer compare this to 'The Royal Tenenbaums') and, perhaps, Taika Waititi. Ironically, I haven't actually watched any films by either director, but this short film is a gentle itch urging me to.
I also like is propulsively playful soundtrack for the most part, despite the sentimental Pixar-esque music at the very end of the film being a touch too cheesy for me. But whoever thought of having that diegetic violin at the middle of the final sequence has my kudos.
Visually striking moments aside, I don't find subtlety to be the end goal here, and that's by no means bad by itself! It feels like a modern adaptation of a leaf affectionately plucked out of Aesop's Fables, intending instead to teach what are essentially a few simple lessons. To quote one of the characters, "Isn't that just the sweetest thing you've ever seen?"
I suppose, however, that my gripes with this are the children's performances, excepting the main child actor. At times, their acting seem somewhat forced, rehearsed, or a combination of both, particularly when they 'bully' the main character. Surprisingly, their restraint actually shines at the quieter moments, and it's worth mentioning that the main character never says a word in this film, possibly signifying how suffocated his voice (or lack thereof) is by the school system he suffers in.
All in all, it's a pretty sweet tale greatly bolstered by its visuals, and not many inspirational videos attempting to preach similar messages to this one can reach this level of artistry. I'd even go as far as to suggest that this is as every-frame-a-painting an inspirational-lesson video can go, and ultimately it doesn't come off as unintentionally obnoxious and eye-roll worthy at all (*cough* *cough* Dhar Mann *cough*).
It surprised me that this was made 19 years ago, and was only able to garner such a huge audience when Omeleto released it on YouTube a good 16 years later. But I think it deserves the attention it has gotten. There's passion and love behind it, and it truly paid off, even if if takes a slightly clickbaity title to do so.
