Stand-By
By Miguel Coyula • Jan 28th, 2007 • Category: DramaThis Cuban short picks the ever effective troubled teenager theme to create an cryptic and oppressive mood of alienation in contemporary Havana. Our protagonist is a college student obsessed with finding a solution to an apparently absurd mathematical problem that relates deeply to his own existence. The story is fed to us through signs and icons. I could delve into its meanings but since its open for interpretations and the running time so short, I’ll simply refer to the mood it evokes.
Stand-By is tightly cut (if not always photographed equal precision), in a way it feels like a set-up for a larger story that never gets to unfold, almost as a trailer for a feature film. This feeling is re-enforced by an open ending that leaves you wanting for more or as glimpse of the themes this director will deal with in the future. I’ve always felt that mood pieces work better as features when you truly have time to develop a universe, filled with details that conform a more complete atmosphere devoid of time constraints.
Stand-By doesn’t break new ground, but it’s nicely done and it’s great to see a young filmmaker searching for a voice through alternative ways of storytelling rather than the same tired formulas.
Three stars
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Miguel Coyula is the director of the $2,000 sci-fi epic Red Cockroaches. His next project is Memorias del Desarrollo, a follow-up to the Cuban classic Memorias del Subdesarrollo (1968), based on the novel by Cuban writer Edmundo Desnoes
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