Desserts (film)

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Desserts
Directed byJeff Stark
Written byJeff Stark
Produced byJill Robertson
Starring Ewan McGregor
CinematographyKate Stark
Music by Simon Boswell
Alex Heffes
Algernon Thompson
Release date
  • 1998 (1998)
Running time
2 minutes 35 seconds

Desserts is a 1998 British short film directed by Jeff Stark and starring (as the only actor) Ewan McGregor. [1] [2] [3] [4] Desserts won the Silver Bear for Best Short Film at the 1999 Berlin Film Festival. [5] [6] [7] [8]

Contents

Cast

Plot

A man (the stroller) is walking along a beach and finds a chocolate éclair, ponders over it for a bit then decides to eat it, then suddenly is yanked into the sea by a hook and line.

Production

The film has no dialogue. [9] [10] "I was faxed the script - and it was just one sheet of paper, but it made me laugh so much that I just had to do it." explained Mc Gregor. [11] The film was his third short and the "black humour" and "minimal commitment" implied decided the actor. [11]

The film was produced by Jill Robertson (producer’s assistant on Trainspotting and production supervisor on A Life Less Ordinary ), who approached the actor. It was filmed in a single day at Turnberry in Ayrshire on a budget of £13,975. [12]

Release

The film was released in October 1998. [12]

Reception

The short was described as "a typical “funny with a twist” short that uses one of our weak points to question how we feed ourselves as a species: greed." [13] The short was also praised for its "sense of reduction and simplicity". [14] Other commentators found it was "a cruelly funny short film" [11] and " one of those shorts that function like jokes and whose success hinges on the punchline. The sheer unexpected violence of the denouement [...] leaves the audience stunned." [12]

It received the Silver Bear for Best Short Film at the 1999 Berlin Film Festival. [15]

It was screened in various festivals, including Busan [16] and Sundance. [17]

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References

  1. ↑ Nash, Patrick (2012-01-12). Short Films: Writing the Screenplay: Writing the Screenplay. Creative Essentials. ISBN   978-1-84243-519-9.
  2. ↑ Cineforum (in Italian). Federazione italiana cineforum. 1999.
  3. ↑ L'alternativa VI Festival de Cinema independent de Barcelona: 19-27 novembre '99 (in Catalan). La Fábrica de Cinema Alternatiu. 1999.
  4. ↑ Kwartalnik filmowy (in Polish). Państwowy Instytut Sztuki. 2000. p. 366.
  5. ↑ "Film card". Torino Film Fest. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  6. ↑ Jacobsen, Wolfgang (2000). Fifty Years Berlinale. Nicolai. p. 150. ISBN   978-3-87584-906-6.
  7. ↑ Cinemaya. A. Vasudev. 1999. p. 52.
  8. ↑ Dyja, Eddie (1999-12-01). British Film Institute Film and Television Handbook 2000. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 73. ISBN   978-0-85170-764-8.
  9. ↑ Tinnin, Drew (2023-03-31). "Celebrating Ewan McGregor's All Too Brief Horror Legacy". Dread Central. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  10. ↑ Cotter, Padraig (2022-08-07). "Ewan McGregor Horror Movies, Ranked". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  11. 1 2 3 Robb, Brian J. (1999). Ewan McGregor : from junkie to Jedi. Internet Archive. London : Plexus. p. 124. ISBN   978-0-85965-276-6.
  12. 1 2 3 Pendreigh, Brian (1999). Ewan McGregor. Internet Archive. London : Orion. pp. 236, 239. ISBN   978-0-7528-2595-3.
  13. ↑ "Short films for foodies". Flicks.co.nz. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  14. ↑ Brütsch, Matthias; "The art of reduction: notes on the dramaturgy of the short fiction film" (p. 3-5)(https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/9900/12/Bruetsch2008V.pdf (University of Zurich)
  15. ↑ Film-Dienst (in German). Katholisches Institut für Medieninformationen, Katholische Filmkommission für Deutschland. 1999. p. 19.
  16. ↑ "Busan International Film Festival". Busan International Film Festival. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  17. ↑ "The British Television Advertising Awards 1999: The Chairman’s Award - Sponsored by Channel 4/Jeff Stark". www.campaignlive.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
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