The Art of Drowning

I watched this short film recently just to fill a little time if I'm honest – I wasn't in a particularly reflective mood (indeed I had been playing video games and had grown tired of them) and perhaps was not in the correct frame to suddenly be watching a Candian animation pondering the nature of death, in particular the accepted "flash" we will get of our lives in that final moment. I wasn't really in that sort of mood but yet suddenly I was because this film is as effective as it is short.

The animation is very "basic" but I do not mean that in a derogatory way, but rather to say that it keeps it simple – black lines on a white background, without too much ever going on at once. This allows us to have Collins' poem supported in a visual way but at the same time it never threatens to do more than "support". This is a wise decision by the director because not only does Collins have an engaging voice and tone, but his musings are considered and engaging and do have a poetic rhythm to them. It is particularly well done with the voice, the words and the images all working well as a whole.

An engaging and brief short film that knows its strength (Collins and his poem) and focuses on bolstering that, not distracting from it.