Arrival by Daniel Montanarini

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SWNMjBchC4


Arrival is a short film about a nervous woman waiting for the father of her unborn child to arrive. She is waiting for an arrival in two senses, that she is pregnant and that he is on his way. However, she deliberates getting an abortion and throughout considers responsibility and choice. This is primarily social realism, and acts as a monologue, but is very much a stream of consciousness, taking various tangents and failing to focus on anything in particular, which seems realistic to me. The entire film is held on one shot, as we are positioned directly opposite the woman who sits uncomfortably. Perhaps this positions the audience as the other half of her conversation, the listener to her troubles.
The representation is interesting here, as she is shown to be a fairly strong protagonist, not relying on what he says and very much making decisions for herself, even if they are uncertain ones. She does however seem to perk up the minute he arrives, late which is fairly stereotypical too. It is a film that uses stereotypes to an extent but more to further it's own impact than to damage anyone in particular. It serves the story. One of the best moments of this film for me was a slow zoom occurring half way through, where the lighting shifted from a cold blue to shifting reds and oranges blaring through the windows. Trains screeched past and we saw the indecision on her face. Suddenly the noise stopped, a gentle spotlight rose on her and a decision was made. We never find out what exactly it was but the ambiguity very much adds to the scene.
The elements of this short I am likely to take away are the introspective monologues, which I find interesting to explore a characters psyche and the expressionistic moments with lighting and sound which again are used very well here to explore the protagonists thought process.

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