Red Sky at Night

An old woman is shut away in a home by a loss of her husband and old age. With Christmas coming around she finds her reality slipping back into memory as she acts out the old times she had surrounded by colour, family and fun.

This short starts a little arty, with a colour and a b/w shot of two women putting on lipstick. It at first appears a little pretentious but gets better as you understand what the two shots are about - they are the same person. The film's central point is good and clear - the fading of old age. It is well presented by the two contrasting scenes and the difference is so stark that it is a little moving to see how far from her memories the woman's life is now.

The direction really makes it work. The memory is colourful, festive and full of warmth in the setting and the actions of the characters. In contrast the present is b/w, cold and the sets are quite sterile - certainly lacking anything that could be called love. The lead actress(es?) is/are good and carry the warmth/cold with her/them in the respective scenes.

Overall it is a simple short and a straightforward story, but it is well made and, due to the good interpretation of the script, is actually a little moving at one point.