Igelit (Plastic)
2021 · 18m · Czech Republic
Directed by Tomas Brozek
Genres: dark comedy, satire
Tones: darkly comic, humorous
An anti-plastic activist and her straight-edge husband heedlessly pursue success under the influence of unscrupulous friends, as six interconnected storylines converge around a neighborhood water pipe crisis — culminating in a tragic farce where a dead body, an apartment, pet fish, and society itself all end up wrapped in plastic.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Six interlocking storylines in 18 minutes around a water-pipe crisis ending in plastic-wrapped tragedy. Pulp-Fiction-in-a-short is an absurd structural bet; if it works, it works hard.
Six interconnected storylines compressed into eighteen minutes around a neighborhood water-pipe crisis — Brozek is attempting the Pulp Fiction architecture at short-film scale, which is genuinely audacious. Short of the Week's own staff note the rarity; I am paying attention.
Porting the Magnolia-Pulp Fiction interconnected-multi-storyline architecture into 18 minutes with six coherent ensemble threads is a genuinely rare structural feat — most short ensembles collapse under the weight. The Short of the Week note about 'precision in structure' tracks.
Reviews
Brozek ports a beloved type of feature film that has fallen out of favor to short film with astonishing finesse, pulling off interconnected-but-separate storylines coherently while remaining entertaining. A wicked satire of contemporary society that demands respect for its pure concision.
Festivals
- Edinburgh Short Film Festival
- KURZSUECHTIG Leipzig
- Brussels Short Film Festival
- Torino Short Film Market