Short Film: Try by Jonas Akerlund

This is a short film I watched quite a while ago. Every time I go back and watch it I always end up crying-which can be hard for a regular film to do let alone a short film. I love the way it begins with only the woman talking and telling a story. I also feel that the story of the doll house has a lot to do with the rest of the film after. I have to say I think what makes the film so strong is the fact that we get the voiceover of Linda who tells you exactly what she is thinking. This gives us a certain connection with the character that we would not normally have. Also the fact that Linda has a very odd train of thought gives her more of a personality than if she were to be speaking in cliches. I think I also love that her voice is slightly higher and pitch and almost sounds child like. It makes me see her as more of an innocent being, though clearly she is not. I also love the fact that we can see into almost every aspect of their lives. We even catch a glimpse of Max peeing on a wall.

Linda tells us of her dreams, but on screen we see a couple who is homeless and unclean. Her dreams seem so innocent, but the visuals of them are not. She speaks of how she will have a home, and lots of food as we see the couple go into the store and Max steals some food. Linda seems almost like she has been forced into that lifestyle. Her dreams of where she wants to be seems to contradict very heavily with the actions she portrays. Her dreams are innocent, yet she resorts to stealing and selling herself for money. At one point in time she says that she knows they "have a future, they know where they are going." This statement seems very contradictory to what we see on screen which seems to be a couple who isn't trying very hard to go anywhere.

As we see Linda with all her dreams of having a great home and a great family, we see that she doesn't seem to care for her well being or her child's. We see her smoking, and drinking which clearly shows her little regard for the health of her baby. She keeps dreaming that all these good things will happen to her, but she doesn't seem to be doing anything to make them better. She's not caring for her baby or herself which is not going to make her life better in the least. She also continues to prostitute herself even when she's pregnant.

Then we find out that she enjoys getting high. The film is already hard enough to watch because we see this girl destroying her life and her baby's, but then we find out that she does meth. This is when the film gets to the point where it's almost unbearable to watch. The visuals of them shooting the needles are so horrifying and graphic I cringe as I watch it. She explains how happy the high makes her, but the visual of her doesn't appear happy at all.

When she gets high we see images of happy families. This is where the film gets a little strange and difficult to understand. I took it as she's imagining all these families who appear happy, but have horrific problems underneath all the apparent happiness. This scene is very graphic and horrifying, but it shows her ideas of how these people are all fake.

After these scenes we see a shot of her on the floor. We see blood all over her pants. Immediately this triggered a reaction of panic from me. I realized this meant that the baby was dying. When she wakes up she tries to get help. Max continues to lay passed out on the bathroom floor. At this point I am angry that he didn't wake up in time to help her. I'm also angry that he allowed her to continue drinking and doing drugs when he knew that it would be bad for the both of them. I figure if he loved her so much wouldn't he want what's best for her. Wouldn't he not want to see her lying dead on the floor?

When max walks into the empty room and lays his head on the bed I can't contain myself anymore. At this point I'm an emotional wreck and the film isn't even over yet. We watch as Linda's casket goes into the furnace. We continue to hear her voiceover as she explains that she has finally found the place she wants to be.

This short film shows an extremely realistic situation, but puts a spin on it by letting us get into the head of one of the characters. It shows a story from a point of view of a character that is not normally portrayed in this way. With the amazing way that this story is told and the graphic visuals this film leaves us feeling very emotional. This film left me feeling something that normally I do not feel. Though I am angry at her for all the drinking and drug use while she's pregnant, I still feel sorry for her when she has passed.