A man attempts to change his luck in Serkan Aktas’ silent short, Lucky Coin!. That man is George (Emir Coskun), who has spent years trying to pass an exam from his teacher (Alaattin Cankaya) with absolutely no luck. In fact, he feels his inability to pass the test is an omen of bad luck.
His friend, Michael (Yigit Dikici), knows exactly what George needs and passes him a lucky coin. All George has to do is flip the lucky coin, and if it lands on heads ten times, his luck will change. With nothing to lose, George begins flipping away…until he finds himself on a lucky streak.
“George begins flipping away…until he finds himself on a lucky streak.”
As mentioned in the introduction, Lucky Coin! is a silent short. There’s no sound at all…just captions between scenes for dialogue. I find myself wrestling with this one a bit. As a story and film, it’s pretty no-frills, and if you’re going to move beyond convention, there needs to be an apparent reason why going silent is the only option.
George’s tale is pretty straightforward. He flips a coin for good luck. This might be why it’s a silent film. Reading the dialogue makes me more attuned to what’s happening in the film. While this convention works, I’d also like to see other elements push further, particularly shot composition and more emotive acting. Ultimately, Lucky Coin! is short, sweet, and to the point.
"…short, sweet, and to the point."
