Zero

only special. just special. impressive for idea, touching for story, great for final. and difficult for define. because all is well known and the film could be another manifesto for a noble cause. but it becomes, scene by scene, little more. the poetry, the voice , the references to situations from every day does it a good point of reflection. about small , poor people and realities. about love. about different and subtle form of revenge. nothing complicated. or new. an idea. work. puppets. and one of stories becoming great on the screen against the insignificant fact to be close near you in real life. so, few numbers. and Zero.

This animated short film takes the issues minorities face every day, excluded by things that have nothing to do with their very soul. The principle character is abused by his peers every day. The characters are made of yarn. The dominating class is pink while zero is shades of gray and black. While the story is quite simple, it sadly represents the misfortunes of birth.

A short with an easy but still very much needed message created in a very nice stop-motion style.

The story should not be new to anyone over the age of twelve, but is brought with such an elegance it is worth watching anyways. The animators did a splendid job of creating a variety of characters within the limits they gave themselves. This makes for an enjoyable watch even for grown-ups.

The narrator's voice is pleasant and clear, the scenery simple and yet complete, and the music simple yet supporting.

I hope the creators will use their techniques to also make some more off-the-beaten-track stories.

I came in to this short film thinking it might have something to do with mathematics . My own memory from schooldays reminded me that " everything is based around maths " but for some strange reason it's not a subject that figures very often in cinematic subject matter . Off the top of my head only two films feature the theme , one being Darren Aronofsky's feature film debut PI and Ron Howard's Oscar winning A BEAUTIFUL MIND . As it stands ZERO doesn't need to join them in the cinematic maths box because it has nothing to do with mathematics and everything to do with social hierarchy

The subtext is a bit too obvious but social structure is important - perhaps far too much - to the human race . It differs in some cultures . Despite not officially existing in the Indian sub-continent the Hindu caste system is one of the most rigid social structures on Earth . Nazi racial hierarchy - itself owing vague connections to Hinduism and Indo-Aryan culture - was an example of a social order with zero social mobility . On the opposite side of the idealogical fence communism had party hierarchy where someones standing in the party allowed them privileges such as state house , sate car and state shops where party members didn't have to queue all day unlike non party members . Not even a secular democracy can guarantee true meritocracy and often social class is a life sentence except for a gifted few

This might be the problem of ZERO . I constantly found myself asking what this type of society was and wanted to learn more about but it's an animated short that appeals more to the heart than the head and being animated means the animation is everything . This shouldn't be taken as a criticism because I did find the woollen puppets impressive both as a concept and as characters and you really do feel for the characters and their predicaments even if you're equally aware you are being manipulated to a degree . Perhaps in a world where Pixar animation is becoming far overused a film studio might like to employ Christopher Kezelos and his puppet animation for a feature length family blockbuster . I'm sure with the right screenplay the results would be impressive

8 out of 10? Not for this primitive simplicity. 6 out of 10? Not for this sentimental absurdity. 4 out of 10? For furry balls and more-than-one-hundreth-times-already-seen cliché? At least the animation is nice and movie points out that modern society still has problems.

Anyway, it's just mediocre SJW story reducing complex reality into simple good-bad concept, with ill-concieved resolution. I do agree with the main idea (i.e. don't discriminate others), but here the baby was thrown out with the bathwater.