Rob Munday
Hot-on-the-heels of Aoife McArdle’s captivating short film for U2 track Every Breaking Wave, comes the 2nd music-video to feature on Short of the Week in 2015 and only the third we’ve featured in almost 2-years. Slower-paced and less action-packed than McArdle’s, Björn Rühmann’s 12-minute promo for Herbert Bail Orchestra track The Nature of Things highlights how you can create powerful, emotive filmmaking using calculated and sparse storytelling to full effect.
Based on the simple premise of the lengths a man will go to when his best friend is in trouble, The Nature of Things centres around an outsider living in a trailer in a remote part of an unspecified desert with just his dog for company. When his companion is suddenly in need of immediate veterinary assistance, our desperate protagonist sets off on a determined journey across the desolate area he calls home.
Opening with a 5-minute almost dialogue-free introduction to why Rühmann’s lead character sets off on his relentless trek, it’s some wait until the actual music-video part of the short kicks-in. When it does though, you can see why the filmmaker chose this narrative for his film. Describing their sound on their Bandcamp page as creating musical narratives that are epic tales, Rühmann’s emotive, compelling storyline feels like the perfect accompaniment to the track’s evocative and atmospheric mood. The somewhat one-dimensional narrative and slow tempo won’t be for everyone, but for me The Nature of Things makes no allusions to the type of music video it is. Stripping away many of the tricks and allusions of storytelling and filmmaking, you’re left to dwell on the raw emotion of the tale and it makes for a pretty heartbreaking watch.
With its narrative surrounding a man on a relentless expedition for his canine companion, I couldn’t but help watch The Nature of Things and be reminded of the latest feature from previously Short of the Week featured director David Michôd – The Rover. Rühmann’s film is obviously less complex and ambitious, but both story’s feature similar characters and similar themes of commitment, determination and loyalty.
Part of a trilogy of short films “about America” that Rühmann and his wife Kerstin created for the Herbert Bail Orchestra – we eagerly await seeing where part II takes us.