Pretty Thing

Hauntingly beautiful and filled with nostalgia, this twelve minute Canadian short & (primarily) silent film, directed by Matthew De Filippis and Elisia Mirabelli, is a captivating story of romance and first true love. 

With the female lead sporting an early Victorian inspired wedding gown as an old woman in the opening scene, and then re-appearing much younger as her teenage self in a Sloane inspired (from Ferris Bueller's Day Off) white fringed leather jacket... the lead is not lacking in style or visual enchantment in her first appearances within the film.

But beyond wardrobe, the sets, props, and locations are stunning and filled with artistic vision. The cinematography is unique and contains film techniques that defy average film. (If you watch the short film, I am referring primarily to the flashback sequence projected on the female leads back while she is sleeping 6 min into the film.... absolutely captivating.)

In addition, the attention to detail within each scene is stunning. Within the first 4 minutes you see close ups of the male lead as a young man playing with strands of the girl's hair and twisting them through his fingers as they lie on a grassy field. Then the camera scans from his fingers to her face and then her fingers similarly playing with the green grass beside her. These simple shots elucidate the intimacy and child-like nature to the two's romantic beginnings.

With them both doing similar motions with their hands in the grass or hair, the directors are insinuating that they are in sync and therefore have a level of both cognitive and physical intimacy that links them so much so that they are subconsciously doing the same movements. The fact that the directors chose to focus on such little motions and movements to elucidate their connection proves that each experience with the other is new and cherished. Thus, their connection is like a childlike fantasy taking place in the initial picturesque field as the male lead arrives and first meets the female character while she is swinging idyllically like a child in the wind. 

Finally, the few lines actually said in this short film are works of poetic beauty coming from the narration of the male lead when he is much older as he is looking back to past memories with his young love. He states simple truths of lost love and how he holds on to their shared memories with idealism and hope.
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​"I remember the moments I want to forget. I remember the girl and the butterflies."

"It's funny how you remember the simplest things at the strangest times."

Photos From:
http://www.semprefilms.com/art-direction/
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-xoxo SP