Director: Marco Santos
Writer: Marco Santos
Cast: Luna Lozano Cid, Salvador Pinho, Ivo Carvalho, Freddie Trindade
Running time: 6mins
The world is filled with horrors. But between European politics’ perpetual slide to the right on every position, the genocide in Palestine, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the war crimes unfolding across Africa, artists around the globe are fighting to express themselves, their feelings and fears, and give people hope against the oppressors.
The short film The Shell is a great example of that, as it combines the journey of a girl with the numerous events taking place right now being heard over a radio, while showing beautiful images of scenery. The film is really short, at just 6 minutes, but still manages to touch on a multitude of important issues.
The story begins with some boys playing football on the beach, but quickly shifts to a more urban setting, with a girl walking in a city in Portugal, listening to the radio news about various unfolding tragedies. As the story develops, their paths converge – and she ends up at the beach (probably the same beach where the boys were playing). There, she tries to listen to the sounds of the sea, but enjoying the beauty of nature proves more difficult that she expects.
When she tries to listen to the sea, holding a shell to her ear, all she can hear is the gruesome reality; the news of the radio continues even there. This is a simple yet effective means of achieving its main goal. The concept of the shell on the beach is beautiful but also symbolic, and the ending leaves the viewer with their thoughts and feelings, as well as a familiar sense of not being able to escape (or even take a break) from reality.
With that said, the film could afford a little extra space in its run-time, to allow us to process some of what is going on. It is refreshing to see artists occupying themselves with reality in such a way, but the viewer needs a break and a concentration point. It is certain that not all wars and genocides can be mentioned in the same breath, and if we try to take on every problem at once, we will lose our minds – while if we try to express our anger about everything all at once we will lose our humanity. We need space to try and focus on what we can change in our everyday lives, and start with that, if we are going to get anywhere. That seems to be the point The Shell is making – but it doesn’t manage to take its own advice in some ways.
On a technical basis, there is also conflict. It still manages to be a nice watch for us. The images are beautifully shot, and it visually never tires the audience. The scenery is great; there is enough information to hold the audience on the screen but not so much so as to distract them from the importance of the words. However, there are some issues with sound, both in the film’s mix, and also in the recording of a song featured, which can be a bit distracting – especially as the song is introduced at the beginning and end of the film to help drive home its message.
These points do not disrupt the importance of the message the film conveys, but they are an issue. Especially when it comes to the song, there could be an intention to it, to make it more personal and approachable to all audiences.
The filmmaker did a great job visually, and their heart was in the right place, unquestionably. It is an important watch to that end. But it is also a challenge to fully process, and should serve as a learning curve for the filmmaker, both in the technical points and in the density of the message.