Sooner or Later
Time travel is fascinating on all levels. Although it intrigues me and immediately draws my intention, I am often left confused by the infinite possibilities of time travel itself. It makes me feel small, awkward and unknowing of all that the universe has to offer. It is trippy and that could very much be a connection to the drug usage apparent in the film.
So as I think about what to write about this short, I struggle. I liked it; I did. But so much is left to the viewer’s interpretation that I feel a extremely overwhelmed by the possibilities.
The first impression that I receive of the main character is that he is timid and shy. Almost nervous about the task in which he has been asked to do. There are very close up shots of the Nazi and this prisoner and the viewer. As the man said the doctor said he was very sensitive to the serum, I came to the realization that this man had travelled through time before. He had experienced the trauma of travelling to a different time, but he doesn’t seem to respond very openly to the Nazi telling him this. I think that my confusion about what was happening in the film corresponded hand in hand with the prisoner’s seemingly confused nature through the grand scheme of events. As I watched as he drank the water, I was startled by the split-second change in the scene: the cup was emptied. Then my heart stops as we look down at the Nazi who has been shot various times. The prisoner seems just as startled by this occurrence that the viewer feels a distinct sense of suspense about the situation. When the Nazi reappears and the opening scene is played again, the viewer notices minute details that have changed. There is a cigarette in the ashtray and water still fills the prisoner’s cup. The prisoner also has the sheet of paper that he took from the Nazi. As he slides it down his leg, my anxiety heightened. What if the Nazi saw the order? Would he kill the prisoner? Would he understand that the serum worked? The Nazi, who was very observant, realized that the ashtray he emptied at the beginning had a fag in it and connected the dots that the prisoner had travelled. I found my heart aching for the prisoner because I knew his future would be complicated and dramatic after that point; the Nazi understood that their powerful weapon worked and they could dominate powerfully. But, wait, the future prisoner came into the room and killed the Nazi (in the exact state in which he was killed before). The past-prisoner was completely startled while the future prisoner was completely used to the anxiety-ridden life of time travel. It was so very complicated, but the filmmaker did a fabulous job in interpreting the details of this story to the viewer. I did not even realize how complicated it was until it ended on the same scene that it began. The look on the future-prisoner’s face at the end appeared to be more confident and he appeared to be more willing to cause trouble, and with the playful little dings before the credits, I assumed that he is rightfully standing up for himself.
It was ridiculous for the Nazis to believe that the people that they were treating so horribly and killing would be willing to work with them. Yes, they may have been using them as their dummies, in case the serum lead to death, but that goes to show, it is never safe to use others for your own personal gain. Being cruel to others will never give you so-called “success” (in this case political dominance). The Nazis had this trouble coming to them for under assuming the intelligence and power of this sad prisoner.
The filmmaker did a fantastic job in making the comprehension of the time travelling apparent through the tiniest of details. That makes the viewers feel extremely connected to the short.
I do not have many deep interpretations of this short, but I am looking forward to hearing everybody’s responses tomorrow!
