DoodleBug | Christopher Nolan's First Short | Introspection



DoodleBug | Christopher Nolan's First Short | Introspection


DoodleBug (1997) is an abstract, experimental, open for interpretation short, conceived and executed by auteur filmmaker Christopher Nolan, which not only garnered admiration for his authenticity, in the film festival circuits, but paved way for his future. Earlier, he made two shorts, apparently, they were never exhibited for general public, ' Tarantella' (1989) and 'Larceny' (1995) nor available in the internet.


Synopsis: (If I may say so, as in abstract films, there is no such thing as the plot. It is up to the viewers to interpret their own version of the story from visuals)

A middle aged man (Jeremy Theobald), appears to be mentally distraught of something mischievous in a room. He grows impatient of its presence, and needs to eliminate it.

In the process, he does not want to get distracted. When the phone rings, he becomes furious and inserts the receiver into a jug, full of water. And, finds something hiding under a brief, scrawling near the chair. He hits it with something appearing like a shoe. It staggers into the middle of the room.

Eventually, he finds a miniature of himself under the cloth. He does not seem to be surprised. He hits him, he repeats it angrily, and with even more force. It is unclear, what happens to him then. But, a mammoth version of himself, appears behind him, dwarfing the actual and miniature versions. The film abruptly ends.

The way i interpreted the short is, a man does not like himself, and wants to get rid. However, he is invincible or immortal. When he dies or disappears, someone more powerful than him unleashes. The film is metaphor that, humans are locusts, not only do they destroy their ecosystem, but they themselves are their own enemies.


DoodleBug Short URL:
https://youtu.be/DQaNqcKY1Sc

Now, I invite you to watch a short of an eccentric, who made it in 2014, but watched "doodlebug" only in 2017. Therefore, there is no correlation between "Usual Day" and "doodlebug".


https://youtu.be/iORFjFeB1eo

You will certainly not like the short "Usual Day", if you do (the probability of you liking it is minimal), then you may access the below FB page for some not interesting information on the short.

https://www.facebook.com/UsualDayConceptFilm/


Authored by Balaji Thangapandian aka #BT - a spacefarer, who is also curious about film-making, connectivity technologies and military history.
mindofbt.blogspot.com
tbalajiocha@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/balaji.thangapandian
https://www.facebook.com/FilmTheorist/


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