Short Film Analyse – ‘Ralph’ – ‘Get off my Land’

The short films, ‘Ralph’ and ‘Get off my Land’, whilst being completely different stories convey similar themes that can be easily interpreted by the audience. ‘Ralph’ tells the (short) story of a male teenager, aptly named Ralph. He has recently arrived in Paris, a large, confusing city where a variety of areas are made out to be quite badly kept, requiring all forms of maintenance and cleaning; graffiti lines the walls of buildings and streets alike, suggesting themes of rebellious youth and the romance of art .He has come equipped with a rather large suit case (which ultimately serves more as an obstacle throughout the story) and the phone number of a girl named ‘Claire’. As the story develops we learn that the phone number is in fact wrong, leaving Ralph in an entirely alien environment with no apparent way of communicating with the locals. At this early point in the story we can already see that Ralph can best be described as ‘a fish out of water’; he has rushed into a new setting with no foreknowledge of where he should go or what he should do in a situation such as this. It is quite apparent that Ralph has come to Paris in a rush with little to no prior planning; this suggests that ‘Ralph has come in search of something that holds considerable worth (in his eyes). Claire is later revealed to be what Ralph is truly seeking; in my opinion he takes the role of a foolish romantic who holds on to the faintest chance of getting with this girl; he represents vulnerability, his every action endangers him and the objective that drives him also poses a threat to his character. As mentioned prior, his suit case comes off as being somewhat too bulky; Ralph struggles to haul it through the narrow city streets all throughout the story, serving as an irritation to him and to others, this was likely intentional as the suitcase serves the major role of  being part of Ralph’s character. In my opinion the case represents Ralph’s teenage emotions and desires, acting as a large obstacle which not only holds back/disrupts Ralph but also others that he comes across. The short film, ‘Get off my Land’, tells the story of a (supposed) couple who have decided to venture off to a remote woodland area for a walk. The woman is made out to be quite well equipped only seconds into the story, whilst the man is wearing white/grey trainers (now covered in mud) and a thin jacket which does not seem to be staving off the cold as effectively as the woman’s thick, waterproof coat. Moments after the film begins we can already tell that there is some form of unrest in their untold relationship, a sort of instability that is conveyed in the distance they keep between one another and the emotionless words they almost throw at one another. In a way much like the opening of ‘Ralph’, the protagonists can be seen in an environment that does not necessarily suit them, however whilst the cause of unrest in ‘Ralph’ is his lack of knowledge of Paris (and his surroundings), in ‘Get off my Land’, the thing that is alienating the protagonists from their surroundings is the bottled up emotions shared between them, acting like a form of catalyst which prevents them from developing any reasonable connection as human beings. The couple eventually encounters an old man who confesses to being the land owner of the grounds of which they walk, the woman tries to avoid a scene whilst the man pushes forward in both arrogance and disrespect he challenges the owner to a fist fight. In my opinion, this represents the pinnacle of his character; he represents ignorance, serving almost as a (human) catalyst for unrest (almost like Ralph’s suitcase, mentioned prior).

Both stories convey the instability of one’s own character and the effects it can have on their surroundings and those around them, each film effectively captures the humanity in each character through the use of selective setting (i.e. Paris and the private woodland) and themes (i.e. isolation and tension). Personally I found each film very interesting and I was captured by the constructive methods used to convey teenage lust/ignorance and instability within a relationship.