(Photo: thenostalgistfilm.com)
By: Andrianna Veatch, Staff Reporter
With the semester hurtling towards final weeks, the stress of exams, papers, and presentations are mounting, and it is hard sometimes to take a little breather for oneself. Just five, ten, fifteen minutes to relax and ease the strain; put that small voice at the back of one’s mind screaming about essays and studying and yadah-yadah on the back burner for awhile. Read a good story or watch a good film, or in this case, an excellent short film: “The Nostalgist.”
Based on the 2009 short story by Daniel H. Wilson, “The Nostalgist” relates the story of a man and his son who reside in a stunning Victorian virtual reality. But when the man’s EyesTM and EarsTM begin to fail, the line between reality and fantasy becomes blurred, and there will be shocking revelations.
Despite its short length—a mere 18 minutes—and part Kickstarter funding, “The Nostalgist” is not a Two Men in a Car with a Camera kind of film; no, it is clean, careful and professional. It is so professional it even stars Lambert Wilson, perhaps better known as Merovingian The Frenchman from The Matrix Reloaded, in the title role, and Samuel Joslin (Paddington’s Jonathan Brown) as the boy. The special effects are dazzling and gorgeous. The script is succinct and focused. The musical score is solid. It is, simply put, full-length feature-film quality condensed into a palatable, bite-size time limit for stressed-out students.
So no matter how you are feeling, do take time for a bit of fun; something simple, but high-quality. Enjoy!