As an artist in an ever-changing landscape, filmmaker Richard Lukacs tells a very familiar tale in a fresh, unique, and dark way in Sound of the Doldrums.
Part music video, part animation, our tale opens on a man in a dark room, staring at his notebook as he writes another entry about that fateful night. Not so long ago, our protagonist caused a car accident that killed his partner. As the hard-rock soundtrack pulses in the background, the protagonist, ravaged by guilt, speaks of the incident. When the rock beat gets louder, the voice of the demons berating him is the only sound louder than the music.
“When the rock beat gets louder, the voice of the demons berating him is the only sound louder than the music.”
This is a short film worth taking a chance on. Turn on your TV. Turn off the lights. Crank up your sound system. The experience will empty your soul. Blue Sunshine’s music is an eight-minute rock opera. The narration by Richard Lukacs is gothic and dark, full of despair, and the animation, which mixes hand-drawn and photo images and moves like a flip book, brings all the horror to life.
Whether you’re in a dark mood or a dark room, the best films, particularly shorts, are the ones that evoke feeling, no matter where on the spectrum of emotions you find yourself. Sound of the Doldrums beautifully captures the idea that the one sound the protagonist most wants to hear is silence. This is why art exists at all.
For screening information, visit the Sound of the Doldrums official website.
"…turn off the lights. Crank up your sound system. The experience will empty your soul."
