Commenting Rules: Keep the conversation civil and on topic. If your comment does not add to the conversation, it will be removed. Debate intelligently. Insulting the author, /Film, or other commenters will result in comment removal and possible ban. If you want to point out a typo, correction, suggestion or criticism for /Film, please email us instead. Please use your name or nickname and not your business name (ie Discount Car Parts) as we might confuse and mark it as spam. If you would like to have your own Avatar show up with your comment, sign-up for a free Disqus account. Any Links will go into moderation before being approved. Anything we deem as spam will not be approved.

Watch This: Skhizein, an Incredible Animated Short Film

Posted on Thursday, December 24th, 2009 by David Chen

I was browsing Reddit this morning when I came across the following description for the short film Skhizein:

After being struck by a 150-ton meteorite, Henry has to adapt to living precisely 91 centimeters from himself.

That description didn’t make much sense to me, but, finding myself incredibly intrigued, I watched the 13-minute short and was completely blown away. From the concept to execution, this short film is beautiful, haunting, and thought-provoking. I would talk more about the premise, but it’s conveyed amazingly well through the film itself, so your best bet is to just watch. Hit the jump to watch Skhizein and for some of my brief thoughts on it.

Skhizein tore up the festival circuit back in 2008, where it won dozens of nominations and awards. Regrettably I didn’t catch it back then, but thanks to the magic of Vimeo, all of us have the opportunity to enjoy it now. Spoiler-y reflections follow after the video:

There are only a few concepts that truly scare me in this world (examples include time travel paradoxes and locked-in syndrome). To this list I now add “living 91 centimeters away from myself.” The film’s rendering of this idea is terrifying, making the outlandish seem utterly plausible.

But what I also love about the film is how it lends itself to allegory. Poor Henry is just a regular guy when a meteorite smashes into his life, forcing him to be ripped from reality. He becomes unable to live within his own body, to experience the fullness of existence. No one understands what he is going through; few, if any, believe him at all. Furthermore, attempts to better his situation only make it worse. It is only when he accepts his plight that he find some kind of salvation. In many ways, the meteorite is a metaphor for any sort of trauma that we experience.

Kudos go to director Jeremy Clapin for the wonderful style of animation and to Nicolas Martin for the haunting score. Here’s a link to the film’s official website.

I love Skhizein. What do you guys think?

Comments

MonsterKilledThePilot

Amazing.

Nate

I find the same thing happening to my mouse pad on my laptop.

Horace

Poor, crazy, round headed motherfucker.

tricky808

Thank god somebody is not only still thinking outside of the box but also outside the body. Best animated short I've ever seen. Period.

Icarus Arts

Somebody get Jeremy Caplin a feature, quick.

karlpilkington

Id love to see this in 3D. I actually think 3D would really tie in and enhance the concept as well.

Guest

Thanks for sharing Mr Chen. My Vimeo 'likes' is becoming a library of shorts like this!

Moe Speeks

Another excellent short film.
Truly enjoyed it.

Ryan

I saw this last year, in the showcase of Academy award nominated shorts. I was far and away my favorite, I'm very glad to get to watch it again. For LA residents, or anyone else whose local theater has the Awards shorts showcase, check it out. It's well worth your time.

Fede

Beautiful short. Amazing concept

I just think there is an error in the execution of the car scene.
In theory the protagonist should be always 91 cm away from the real himself in a certain direction (let's says 91 cm to the east).
The problem with the car scene is that the car is moving and so the east is not always to the left of the car. Because of this the protagonist should change position with respect to the car while he is moving.
Instead we see that while he is driving he is always to the left of the driving seat.

Am I right? or did I miss something?

David Chen

Actually this is something that I thought about a lot too. You are right, but perhaps the car was moving in the same direction the entire time?

guest

the point is that he's always 91cm from where he's SUPPOSED to be. He's supposed to be in the drivers seat, so 91cm to the left of that seat is correct enough in terms of direction.

Goldfoot

Yes, that is the point, but he is always a 91cm IN A CERTAIN DIRECTION away from where he is supposed to be. If you notice, when he is in his apartment and looking out the window, he is actually to the left of the window. And then when he goes to change the channel on the TV, he's inside the TV. So what fede is saying is that when the car changes direction, he should move in relation to the driver seat. We see him outside as he is driving one way, but if he were going the other way he would be in the passenger seat. The best explanation (discounting oversight) would be what has been suggested; that he is shown driving in the same direction the whole time.

I really enjoyed this short and it definitely makes you think about what it could be representing. It could be general trauma, or it could be related to mental illness. Either way something significant happened to one person and it changed everything in his life while everyone else doesn't seem to notice. He is all alone and that sort of isolation can be very difficult to deal with, as shown by his hopelessness.

Fede

Yes that is the only explanation I think is possible.

When we see the car, if I remember correctly, it is always going straight so that's a possibility.

By the way that a really small detail that doesn't invalidate the awesomeness of the short.

jank

I think you missed something... the point.

Ryan

I caught this at Sundance in January and was blown away by it. Good to see it has surfaced online. So great.

Aidan

I actually saw this in the Manhattan film festival, I voted for it, and I believe it won.

Rokman

He has it better than someone who is blind.

Chris White

Perhaps the best part about this is that it seems it can't be expanded/adapted/ruined into a full length studio pic.

Sometimes the simplicity of short films like these is their magic.

Damola

i could really see Michel Gondry making a movie outta this. I like the voiceover and the score kinda reminds me of Phil Collins' Another Day in Paradise.

gigaherc

SO TRUE!
I was thinking about the premise as a concept for a full lenght project and Gondry came to my mind at first. Also it could be nice Pixar movie I suppose.

fantastic short!

Haha I caught this on reddit too. It's nice to hear what you think of it and I agree with "making the outlandish seem utterly plausible". Especially when he sunk downwards; at that point I almost felt hopeless.
I also saw this for the first time today and I'm glad I didn't overlook it!

Craigasorusrex

I'm also getting that this was an allegory for some sort of mental problem or an incredible depression leading to some sort of psychosis.

Henry life is rather plain and lonely. All of that for some people keeps turning into a gigantic ball that you ignore until it hits you and slowly but surely start becoming more and more reclusive.

He doesn't talk with his family and this ailment causes him to lose his job. Definitely noticed the depression metaphor in this short.

The Guest

Oh, and it seems to me that judging from the title, this is an allegory of mental illness, possibly schizophrenia.

David Chen

Yeah I definitely think this is true, but I like that it can apply to other things as well.

The Guest

Brilliant stuff. I can't believe this didn't make the Oscar shortlist. Wow. Another travesty.

Justin Jump

Awesome stuff. The music is the best part. With different music it could have been completely comedic, and with the music chosen it's actually kind of tragic and scary.

Really, really good. I loved it. Thank you for sharing.

wazuu

very cool.

Black_x_Star

That was actually really cool. Really interesting concept and the animation was pretty unique.

Thanks for the heads up!

JF

Also a huge fan of this short. I managed to see it in theater this summer as part of the Short Film Fest (Toronto). I think the use of a meteorite is so perfect. I can't think of much less likely to happen to anyone, but the tone is so serious all the way through. Can't help but feel terrible for the guy. Love the voice acting.

Velocity

FYI, this was released with the Oscar-nominated shorts earlier this year. I don't remember if it was actually nominated, or one of the 2-3 other "special mention" shorts.

David Chen

It was not nominated, sadly.

karlpilkington

Wow, that was really cool, beautifully designed and...oh yeah, pretty fucking horrifying, mainly because of the way they executed the concept, meaning what they chose to show and the way they kept everything subdued. I think it's always more chilling that way.

Thanks for sharing.

Vladd88

Very interesting, I think you're right on about the allegory. Honestly though I wouldn't consider this something I'm afraid of happening. It would suck, sure, but there are a million crazy things like this you could come up with.

karlpilkington

It's not so much that I would be afraid of it happening but more the fact that I really could sympathize with the character's inner torture, the fear I felt was for him. Reminds me of Let the Right One In. They don't embellish the pain of being a vampire the way they would in something like Twilight.

With subtlety, the characters are ostensibly normal but you can tell they are screaming inside. That always gets me.

David Chen

I wouldn't describe it as a rational or significant fear....

/Film

Blogging the Reel World

Watch This: Skhizein, an Incredible Animated Short Film

Related Posts

Tags

/Film