‘Collapse’ is a daring, experimental short that intertwines modern anxiety with the visual legacy of German Expressionism. In just 3 minutes, Edemilson C. Morais crafts an atmospheric journey where reality, duty, and desire collide in a paper-made world.
The protagonist, a young architecture student, is represented by a LEGO figure – its rigidity stark against the dynamic backdrop of paper-crafted buildings. The setting is a cityscape, where structures fold inward like the pages of a book. The film’s 4:3 aspect ratio and black-and-white visuals intensify its retro-silent film aesthetic, evoking a world that is as artificial as the figure at its center.
The story unfolds through action cards rather than dialogue, creating a dialogue-free tension that invites the audience into the student’s fractured mind. His struggle between ambition and yearning seems to distort the world around him – buildings collapse, geometry bends, and the city itself becomes a labyrinth of impossible angles. Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 underscores this unraveling, the aching classical score amplifying the existential weight of the student’s predicament.
Yet, while the concept is intriguing, ‘Collapse’ leaves us yearning for more. The LEGO figure’s minimalism works as a symbolic vessel, but it doesn’t allow for much emotional connection or character development. The lack of animation or movement in the figure feels like a missed opportunity to convey the student’s inner turmoil. The paper city, while visually striking, doesn’t quite match the intensity of the visual storytelling at play.
Still, ‘Collapse’ succeeds in its ambition. It’s quirky, artistic, and undeniably bold, but one can’t help but feel that with a little more time, a little more expression, it could have been a truly captivating experience. What Morais offers, though, is a unique, atmospheric glimpse into a world on the brink of dissolution.
