Lipstick & Bullets
Short film compilation
Red Princess Blues
Director: Alex Ferrari
2010
A young girl is lured into the bar tent of a carnival by some sleazy dude. He wants more from her than she’s willing to give him and suddenly she’s in deep trouble. She is however saved by a knife throwing woman – Princess. That’s more or less what it is to it. The storyline is very simple and the film is mostly one scene – and about 11 minutes long. It’s pretty intense, well acted and nicely casted. I adore the mise-en-scène and I think it would have made a great intro to a feature film! There is some action involved that’s really nice. Ok, there are a few mistakes there but nothing that’s really alarming and draws the attention from the good aspects. I really enjoyed this one!
Red Princess Blues: Genesis
Director: Alex Ferrari, Dan Cregan
2011
This is a prequel of sorts to the above film. It’s animated and tells the background story to the character of the princess. I didn’t enjoy it as much as the live short but the story seems very important for understanding the knife throwers persona. I see this as a bonus but not so much more really.
Broken
Director: Alex Ferrari
2005
I can’t say that I’ve ever heard of this before but this is actually THE movie by Alex Ferrari! This is what the critics praised and this is what won a whole bunch of prizes at film festivals around the world. I think it’s an interesting piece and it has some philosophical point to it as well. Most of it is more like a thriller/action though and it’s said to have cost about $8000 to make. It seems like a lot to me if you take in consideration what you get for the money. It’s a debut short – yes, and the actor is ok, put there’s no real point to it. You more or less get a scene that could be placed inside a feature film and nothing more. Ok, there is and end but not necessarily a beginning to the storyline but it are very vague and aren’t explored enough.
The picture quality in this one is less perfect than in the other shorts, but this is also the oldest part and there may not be a way to refresh the material past a certain point. I can’t really grasp the technical aspect of it. As a whole I enjoyed this short but I would waste any vast amount on money on it.
Cyn
Director: Alex Ferrari
2007
The last entry on this blu-ray is a five minute short called Cyn, it kind of goes in the lines of the other shorts on this compilation. It’s about captivity and revenge; of pacifism and violence. It’s a cool little scene and there are some twists to it that’s interesting. Not all the answers are given but I don’t know if that’s really intended or if it’s just coincidence. It takes some effort to ask the questions in the first place too.
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The button line of this compilation BD is that all the shorts are above average but are also pointless of sorts. They are well crafted but there is little or no soul in them. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what I mean and I think that’s about as close as I can get. As a whole I think that the extra material is what makes most sense here. There is loads of it and if you’re an ambitious filmmaker you can surely pick up an advice or two from the interviews and making of documentaries.
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