Tackling 9/11 is not an easy thing to do because it is such an experience that was shared by so many via live news that it is hard to break that down into a 5 minute shot – the enormity, the callousness, the pointless loss and the impact on the world and individuals. So to try and do that as a student film is a real risk and it is one that Eusong Lee took. The idea and the approach is to come at it in terms of the loss suffered by one girl – that of her father. We open with an answer-phone message left by the father after the first plane struck, then as a yoyo is spun by the child (later woman) we move through time around this event.
The idea is fine and the stylishly modern animation style is good but this is a film that really lacks a subtle touch. It looks like it does because the sparse animation is quite minimal and the focus on two characters limits the scope, but in reality the film overplays the emotion to the point where it felt like it was cheapening the subject. The actual footage of 9/11 retains power no matter how often I see it, but the animated explosions here do it not justice – and the decision to show the father falling to his death as so many did, is just badly judged.
It is ultimately still a moving film, but this is because of the idea and he reality – not the delivery here. Kudos for the attempt, the clever time structure and the animation, but as a film it lacks any sort of delicate touch or clever subtlety in the telling, which hurt the film and rather turned me off it.