A story of desperation unfolds in Erenik Beqiri’s short film, The Van. A van pulls up in front of a small crowd. A young man (Phénix Brossard) with fresh facial lacerations exits to scant applause from the group. After being handed some money, he leaves and heads home to a disappointed father (Arben Bajraktaraj).
“…involved in a street fight that takes place in a moving van.”
The young man was involved in a street fight that takes place in a moving van. The van doesn’t stop until one of the fighters is left incapacitated. The protagonist tells his father that he’s almost earned enough money for the two of them to leave Albania for a better life in England. The father questions his son’s method of making the money and tells him that he’s not leaving Albania. The cost is not worth it.
In its 15-minute runtime, The Van asks how far an individual would go when desperate to break the cycle of hopelessness in one’s life and how far a father would go to ensure his son lives to see another day. Writer/director Beqiri is effective in his storytelling. He finds a good balance between showing enough violence (which is minimal) and making his point about the well-defined characters.
"…how far an individual would go when desperate to break the cycle of hopelessness..."
