There’s something cheeky about a film that is essentially titled “Dark Black.” A splash of stylish French is but a token attempt to mask the redundancy. This fantasy noir plays its story fairly straight, but there is a hint of humorous exaggeration in the animation; just enough to let me feel that the filmmakers were having some respectful fun with the genre, and not getting too full of themselves.
Going by the “disclaimer” at the beginning and the announcement that “Dark Noir” is produced by the vodka company Absolut, this might be some sort of advertisement. However, it has nothing obvious to do with vodka or any kind of alcohol, beyond one of the settings being a bar. Perhaps this is another touch of irony?
Regardless, I think it works pretty well as a short film. It takes only a lean two and a half minutes to tell a story complete with set up, interesting plot progression, a surprising twist, and a satisfying resolution. The plot as a whole is nothing brilliant or original — in fact, it’s almost by-the-numbers for the noir genre. But the fantasy premise is a neat one, and the storytellers work it in well. The animation is pretty fantastic, especially how they gave 2D animation a functional, effective place amidst all the fancy 3D graphics. I’d happily watch a feature film in this style.
Let me know what you think of “Dark Noir.”
Dark Noir from Gillian Glendinning on Vimeo.
The Warden's Walk 