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VOTD: Ray Tintori’s Death To The Tinman

Posted on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 by Peter Sciretta

death to the tinman

24-year-old Ray Tintori, directed Death To The Tinman as his undergraduate thesis film for Wesleyan University’s Film Studies program. Highly inspired by Wes Anderson and Guy Maddin, the 12-minute black and white short film is a very loose adaptation of the origin story of the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz. The short tells the story of a human lumberjack who is transformed into a metal man without a heart.

“Tintori transported the story’s basic premise to a surreal, rural 1940s South, replacing Oz magic with evangelical mysticism; pastors, congregations, and the Rapture replace flying monkeys and witches melting upon contact with water.”

The short premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, where it received an Honorable Mention for Short Filmmaking. It also played in the South by Southwest Film Festival and New York Film Festival. Tintori has gone on to a successful career directing music videos, working with MGMT, The Killers, Cool Kids and Chairlift. Ray is also currently developing a couple feature screenplays. Watch his short film, Death to the Tinman, after the jump.

Watch Death to the Tinman in Entertainment | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Thanks to /Film reader Charlie C, WeLoveYouSo, and Lumen Eclipse for the tip.

Comments

theuglyspirit

That was amazing.

bluemild

wow, that was pretty intense. i like how he was weraing a suit no mateer what he was doing.

bluemild

wow, that was pretty intense. i like how he was weraing a suit no matter what he was doing.

Bill_Benz

Cool.

spacedog128

I really loved this short -- to say that it combines wes anderson and guy madden is a spot on description... it is a perfect of hybrid of their styles...

Salad_Fingers

Couldn't agree with you more. Guy madden was the first thing that came to mind when I saw it. Not that that's a bad thing as Guy Madden is a genius.

Infrafan

That was intensely emotional and enjoyable. Love it. And that score was perfectly matched.

Charlie C.

Huzzah! I didn't think this would get picked up! Glad I sent it in!

CyberFaust

Cool, ''not available in your contry''. Goddamnit!

Aaron

I saw this a few months back. It is a really nice short.

Will_B

Wow... i am officially a fan of Ray Tintori and I look forward to seeing more of his work

Mudassir

Veoh.com is not available in Pakistan. Us filthy Pakistanis do not deserve any videos. :D

Schmooie

I saw this on the Sundance website two years back... this one definitely is a gem. The score is fantastic.

Brett

It was hard for me to enjoy this as the style was seemingly just lifted from other filmmakers.

anonymous

yay wesleyan!

Kevin

I can appreicate the film making but the extensive use of Wes Anderson material made me uncomfortable.

Lynchpin

I don't understand how similarities between Tintori and other filmmakers can be discomforting or distracting; do you often subject each film you see to subjective criticism by comparison to other works or do you accept a film's merits based on it's own execution? How many other filmmakers may an escape attention based solely on similarities to others?

I wonder about the ending a little. What's the significance of the rapture? Was the Tinman, now more tin than flesh, absolved from this, or was he pure of "heart" and thus saved? And if his lady was going to perish as sinner anyway, what good is his sacrifice? Or is the logic much like Oz insomuch as the Tinman always has a heart, no matter what his physical condition may state, and is thus deserving of love regardless?

/end pretentious drop-out film student musings

Kevin

"do you accept a film's merits based on it's own execution?" Yes I would love to do that, but this filmmaker diluted his excellent story and style with blatant use of other people material. i.e. the opening scene seems lifted straight out of The Life Aquatic - it could have been Bill Murray and Anjelica Huston. Not to mention the other uses from Rushmore. Its hard to imitate someone with such a distinctive style as Wes Anderson and get it right.

Anthony Dixon

While I agree that it bears similarities to Anderson's work I've always had trouble with the criticism that a film is too "wes anderson". Anderson equal pilfered other director's styles to create the patchwork of his own. In Bottle Rocket he matches several shots to Truffaut's 400 Blows. Why when he does it, is it considered an homage, but now if anyone else draws from the same influences they're copycats?

Brett

Well said Kevin. The problem is as an emerging filmmaker why would want to trace another artist's style?
This is your time to create your own voice and visual aesthetic. Sure this could have been a technical exercise to imitate a certain style - but if I am going to put out a film with my name on it - I would strive to make sure it is more me than somebody else.

tom

a real pleasure, that.

Andrew C

This is so strange. I fell in love with this short about a week ago. I showed it to friends and family and haven't stopped thinking about it. Why did it end up here on Slash Film? I found it mentioned at a Wes Anderson Fansite...

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