Synopsis
Foreword: “Alongside Vasile Alboiu, who also wrote the screenplay, co-director Liviu Gabriel Dinu served as Art Director and supervised the animation, creating the impression of a resuscitation of silent film—both through the absence of dialogue (the lines are inarticulate) and through the makeup of the two young people, made up as in German Expressionism, toward which the hero’s Nosferatu-like look also throws a bridge—the pervert who wants to take advantage of the young girl (here, however, she is not pure of heart).” (Dinu-Ioan Nicula, cinepub.ro)
Directed by: Vasile Alboiu, Liviu Gabriel Dinu
Script by: Vasile Alboiu
Cast: Sandu Mihai Gruia (Doctor Gluand), Aida Economu (Madelene), Corneliu Ulici (Marcel), Ecaterina Ladin (Madame S.)
Producers: Alexandru Teodorescu; Alexandru Alin Dumitru (CG supervisor and producer)
Production: Saga Film, in co-production with StaticVFX Studio and Raza Studio
Animation: StaticVFX Studio – Liviu Gabriel Dinu (art director, animation supervisor), Alexandru Alin Dumitru (CG supervisor)
Sound: Sebastian Zsemlye (sound design, Raza Studio)
Music: Alexei Țurcan
Year: 2022
Category: Animated short film
Series: Tuesday Film (Filmul de marți)
Genre: Horror, dark romance
Duration: 11 minutes
PLOT SUMMARY
At the turn of the 20th century, in a private medical practice decorated in shades of dried blood, the rich old Doctor Gluand takes the young Madelene as his wife, brought to him by her mother, Madame S. The girl has agreed to the arranged marriage for one reason only: she is in love with Marcel, the doctor’s spindly assistant. The two carry on their affair in secret, under the husband’s roof, until a stray letter falls into the wrong hands.
FESTIVALS:
- Animest – International Animation Film Festival, Bucharest, 2023 (18th edition) – Romanian Competition
- The Animattikon Project, Cyprus, 2023 – Golden Hat Award, Best Animated Horror Short Film (audience award)
- REX Animation Film Festival, Stockholm, 2023 – EUNIC Selection
ARTICLES:
- “Together, Body and Soul – The Compound Rule of Three” (“Împreună, trup și suflet – Regula de trei compusă”), by Dinu-Ioan Nicula – cinepub.ro (cineletter)
