Nowadays, film fans are typically used to seeing short films premiere in front of Pixar movies at the theater. These are inspirational, funny, and sweet shorts that evoke a bit of emotion to prepare you for the ugly crying you will likely succumb to during the proceeding feature. Well, A24 decided to take the Pixar model and apply it to the short film “The Fall,” directed by Jonathan Glazer, premiering it in front of recent screenings of Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse.” And trust us, “The Fall” is no Pixar short.
Thanks to the folks at A24 and BBC, you can watch “The Fall” in all its 5+ minutes of glory online. And the short film, featuring zero dialogue and a score from Mica Levi, is definitely worth watching. We won’t spoil what happens, but in a new interview with The Guardian, Glazer, the man behind films such as “Birth” and “Under the Skin,” explains some of the inspirations for his new work.
In addition to being inspired by Francisco Goya’s painting “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters,” a poem by Bertolt Brecht, and photojournalists such as Robert Capa or Don McCullin, Glazer admits that one obvious aspect of “The Fall” comes from a picture of Donald Trump’s sons posing next to a leopard that they had just hunted.
One of the more haunting scenes of the short is the moment when the mob takes a picture with their soon-to-be victim, and according to Glazer he immediately thought of that scene “the day I saw a picture of the Trump sons grinning with a dead leopard.”
While he’s not someone that is going to explain what every aspect of the short is about, Glazer clearly had a number of inspirations, both artistic and historical. There’s no denying that mob lynching is reminiscent of American history, particularly in cases of racism. And let’s not forget that mob mentality has been a fixture in the worst parts of world history for millennia.
“I think fear is ever-present,” said Glazer about mob mentality. “And that drives people to irrational behavior. A mob encourages an abdication of personal responsibility. The rise of National Socialism in Germany, for instance, was like a fever that took hold of people. We can see that happening again.”
Needless to say, “The Fall” isn’t the type of short that film fans might be accustomed to seeing in front of films in theaters, which, as we mentioned, normally happens in front of something like a Pixar film. However, it’s always great to see new work from an acclaimed filmmaker.
You can watch “The Fall” on its official website.
