Cocoon

The catalogue entry for the 2010 Edinburgh Film Festival reads only "A teenager gets a haircut", but there's a little more to Cocoon than that. Beautifully shot, with some excellent tracking work, it's visually impressive. While in places the locks that form the titular cocoon appear to have escaped from a commercial for something with a 'science bit', in others the ethereal nature of it captivates. It's not quite dream-like, perhaps 'dreamy' is the word - all those adolescent associations are relevant.

The hair is long and almost strawberry. The process of cutting, the consequences are not unsurprising. Written, directed, and also edited by Till Kleinert, it's technically competent if not narratively sophisticated. Effectively silent, it's not so long as to need trimming but a little light - style, perhaps, without bounce - or more accurately lacking in substance. It is helped by Conrad Oleak's music, but only so far.

Given how much short films can set out and subsequently manage to achieve, Cocoon's intentions seem slight, but it delivers well. It's about one, maybe two people, shy of the stories told in Barber's Dozen, but still touching in its own way. It might seem odd for a haircut for anyone other than Samson to have such an effect, but such is the nature of high school. Cocoon doesn't quite reveal a butterfly, but it does suggest talent, and it would be nice to see it put to use with a more substantial script. That's not to say there's anything wrong with the film, just that it would be nice to see more made than a make-over. Watch it on Vimeo, below:

Kokon from Jide Tom Akinleminu on Vimeo.