“The Egg and the Hatchet”. This is the perplexing and yet somewhat comforting title of Chris Skotchdopole’s first film that had its first festival bow in the Sunday Shorts program at this year’s Oldenburg International Film Festival.
“The Egg and the Hatchet” is the story of a dance between a boy and a girl; a dance around a decision that will forever change their lives. In fact, the girl has a secret and the surprise for her boyfriend turns into a night of uncertainty as neither dares to say what the other is thinking.
What makes Skotchdopole’s world of magic and spontaneity is his liberated vision of it and its sense of reality, nimbly achieved by nonprofessional actors (Taylor Zaudtke and Jeremy Gardner) and their natural and exceptional performances, improvised lines and a story we can all relate to. “The Egg and the Hatchet is breezy, light, wonderful and very easy on the eye, for the camera is a character here, an inherent part of this magical pas de deux to which it lends its enchantment. Skotchdopole deftly eschews clichés of the romantic genre and succeeds in finding the balance between spontaneity – and therefore reality – and his constructed, imagined vision for his short. In doing so, he also manages to masterfully capture and convey the energy between his protagonists and that is precisely how he puts a spell on his audience.
With a fairytale-like title and a wondrous plot, “The Egg and the Hatchet” is, for all intents and purposes, a modern fairytale, a young, fun, sexy and smart gem of a short film. And, if you ever have to something to tell your significant other, just do it the “Egg and the Hatchet Way”!
Production: Glass Eye Pix (USA 2016)
Producers: Larry Fessenden, Tessa Lee Price, Chris Skotchdopole
Associate producer: Walter Montiel
Director: Chris Skotchdopole
Screenplay: Chris Skotchdopole
Cinematography: James Siewart
Music: Morgan z Whirledge
Production Design: Colin O’Brien
Editing: Chris Skotchdopole
Cast: Taylor Zaudtke and Jeremy Gardner
Color – 21 min.
Premiere: 18/09/2016 (Oldenburg International Film Festival)
