A monkey is part of an experiment into monkey affection toward inanimate partners in their cages; however one monkey believes that he is to be sent to the moon.
Narratively this is an odd short film in its content but also in its style of delivery. It is visually deliberate in its grainy look, and black and white footage; giving it an odd feel to match the odd narrative. Somehow though it works because it convinces that the monkey is a real creature who feels, and we feel for. Reading up afterwards on the experiments of Harry Harlow, it is clear how well the film recreates some of the detail of those experiments, but more important is the creation of Gandhi. He is very delicate as a character, full of emotion and hope – and we see it very clearly in his tiny frame, his eyes and his actions. The animation captures this really well, and the film cuts in and out of his cell in a CCTV sort of way that provides a very cold observational tone that weirdly works well with the feeling of the character.
It pays off in a painful way by the end, and it is a very memorable conclusion to the film – one that shows how well it realized and delivered this tiny character.
