Souvenir (I) (2004) User Reviews

An involving emotional film that proves that the story--not the medium nor the length--is what really counts.

[insightman · 10/10 · 22 May 2006]

This film was made with one of those Fisher-Price Pixel 2000 (2000-pixels per frame) toy cameras made in the late 1980's. It begins with a lonely marionette figure in a a cave-scene snow globe. The figure spends his time touring his little cave, waiting for the little stalactites to join the little stalagmites, tidying up his little space, and watching the sparkling little waterfall that appears in the cave after the snow globe is shaken. But no matter how busy the little guy keeps himself, he cannot escape his loneliness. Just as we fully embrace the plight this sympathetic little guy, something unexpected happens. SPOILER ALERT: The little guy turns his head and, looking over his shoulder, sees another figure in the hazy distance. Elated and hopeful, the little guy moves closer and the stranger in the haze resolves into the figure of a deep sea diver. Finally, they are face to faceplate and each reaches out an arm to make contact. But contact is denied because the diver is trapped within his own snow globe--another souvenir--that has been placed next to the first one. The narrator ends the film with the words, "But this was more than he knew before and that was enough." This film really blew me away with its great story, well-designed sets and figures, and the skills of the puppeteer(s).