It
is time for a little body horror, but at least it is for a good cause. A dissident
desperate to escape will take on the appearance and characteristics of a bighorn
ram. It is a crazy scheme, but it might work only too well in Bahman and Bahram
Ark’s short film AniMal (trailer here), which screens as part of the Anarchy shorts block at
this year’s Slamdance Film Festival in Park City.
Making
a break for the heavily patrolled chain-link border is a low percentage move,
as viewers quickly see for themselves. It is worth noting in passing, this border
wall is designed to retain freedom-seeking citizens imprisoned within, rather
than keep outsiders out. Regardless, the well-armed guards mean business—and they
seem to enjoy their work. However, the would-be immigrant has a plan to
disguise himself as a ram, capitalizing on his hunting and taxidermy skills. To
make it look convincing, he will binge-watch old nature documentaries on VHS.
What could possibly go wrong?
The
Arks are distinctive filmmakers, who have crafted a gritty and slightly macabre
character study. Although we should be judicious in our political readings, the
fact that they are Iranian is not insignificance, especially in light of the
many recent Iranian films that address the challenges of (mostly legal)
immigration, such as Goodbye and Melbourne. In this case, the man’s
extreme circumstances force him to resort to extreme measures. It is a powerful
sight to behold, but unfortunately, there are two rather obvious O. Henry-esque
endings this story can take—and the Arks duly opt for one of them.
Nevertheless,
you have to give all due credit to Davoud Nourpour’s performance as the “animal,”
because it is truly fearless, in many ways. Thanks to his convincingly animalistic
performance, some enterprising programmer ought to pair AniMal up with Rune Östlund’s The Square, featuring the ape-like Terry Notary.
AniMal is a film that
just might hold equal appeal for art-house cineastes and unruly cult movie
fans. Highly recommended, AniMal screens
again tomorrow (1/22), as part of the Anarchy shorts package at the 2018
Slamdance Film Festival, which is having a really great year for short films.