Short Film Analysis: 'Strangers' (2004) by Erez Tadmor and Guy Natt

     Strangers, in my opinion, is an excellent short film as a result of it's directing and cinematography. The plot of the story, regardless of its 7:11 time limitation, is very intricate with many emotional, political, social, and cultural connections and references. The plot is set up by a white man who boards a train, sitting across from a dark-skinned man, appearing to be middle-eastern, possibly Indian. Exchanging no words, the two appear to make judgments about one another through mere observations. By looking at skin color, the material that the dark-skinned man is reading is in a foreign language, and the white man is wearing a silver necklace bearing a Jewish Star.

The reactions of the two men in addition to the design train and station, expresses the possibility of the time period being one where racial tension is still quite high the country this film is set in. The expressions and behavior of these men show a clear apprehensiveness towards one-another making for a tense scene as we wait for one of the men to act. Unexpectedly, four more white men bearing bald heads, menacing expressions, and tattoos enter the scene and sit amongst the men, adding to the already building tension as we know from their wardrobes that they are not friendly people. One of the men spray paints a black swastika on the dark-skinned man's newspaper revealed in a much-needed over the shoulder shot behind two of the white men. The dark-skinned man looks across the train at the man with

Jewish necklace, building the tension even greater, as the main character of this short film  could be revealed as a Jew any second, in order to save the Indian man's life.
       I really like this scene as it gives a great appreciation for the amount of thought in each scene of any film. While in many longer films, little scenes such as this will be added, unnoticed by many, extinguishing the importance and pride that director and writer may have in creating this individual scene. So by creating this scene in a short film, using these simple, yet meaningful angles and symbols, like the star necklace and the swastika, it helps to show how much thought and effort goes into each individual scene. This is scene not only through the directing, but the costume direction. The use of tattoos and 'trashy' clothing the white men are wearing, it shows that they are simple minded thugs, around merely to harass an innocent man who happens to be of the minority in the scene. Also the necklace the Jewish man wears is an important symbol that used very subtly, rather than a more obvious and amateurish symbol like a flag on his backpack. A necklace is used, not only to express sentimental value, but to express his need to hide as he conceals the necklace under his shirt.
        Further in the scene, the Indian man, having not revealed the true identity of the Jewish man, the Jewish man picks up his things to leave, when his phone rings, with a polyphonic ring tone version of a traditional Jewish song played at parties like weddings and Bar mitzvah. This recognition of sound design is very important because this is the first prominent sound in the entire film that has significant meaning. No words have been exchanged amongst anyone, so this ring tone breaks the silence and reveals the man's identity with a new piece of evidence instead of the necklace. This leads to the men attacking the Jewish man, but he as well as the Indian man fight back and manage to escape the

train safely. The concluding scene portrays the author's message of the unity among races and individuals. The film ends with the men waving good bye and exchanging their bags, showing how they looked out for each other by fighting and by doing something as simple and unnecessary as grabbing the things the other left behind.