Tuesday

Editor's note: This review contains spoilers.

Described as: “One man's obsession with solitude, dance and digital memory,” Tuesday is something of an oddity. A man in a suit walks home, puts an old gramophone record on, strips down to his vest and pants, then ‘dances’ in front of several video cameras, just moving as the music moves him. The resultant videos form part of a massive wall-to-wall collection for each day. This one is Tuesday. I am rather relieved when he gets dressed and goes back outside again. I hardly noticed the Nick Cave music, which I am disappointed about as he has done some good stuff.

If he were an interesting dancer, or Charlie Chaplin - or even Mr Bean – this idea could have tweaked some merit from the dark corners of dismal obscurity into which it will doubtless otherwise fall. Occasionally showing us Mr Ellis as if through the lens of one the video cameras instead of the non-diegetic one (presumably handled by Mr Halliday), is not innovative or interesting enough to redeem this short for two minutes, much less seven.

On this occasion, although some people may find this short incredibly amusing, or even defend it as ‘art,’ I can only relate my own experience. There are so many richly deserving students that, if not exactly touched with the brush of greatness, have at least had the courage to pick it up. I struggle to see why the dearly obsessive Mr Ellis does not give his video cameras away to one of them instead of inflicting this nonsense on us.

Or do I? The New Zealand born Mr Ellis made another short, Then/Now, which I quite enjoyed. Realising he is also an installation artist (no relation to the UK filmmaker Simon Ellis, who made the prize-winning short film, Soft), I have tried to imagine Tuesday in a gallery setting. I do think it could work much better in that environment. For my money, it's sadly not suitable for cinema screening