Still Stile has been absent for quite a while, but we’re back! There’s a lot of great content awaiting to be shared and today I finally took the time to throw the first Still Stile post online since months. My latest contribution has been the guest post on Denimhunters and there’s gonna be some more specials on the indigo cotton appearance in cinema too. As a start, I have picked a short movie with some incredible architectural and visual elements that was recommended to me by Marc Foley some time ago.
Círculo Uno is the first short movie directed and written by visual artist César Pesquara who started out directing a few commercials and music videos (quite interesting as well). Círculo Uno is shot beautifully in a very straight and severe way with little camera movement, resulting in amazing geometrical shots. It reminds of THX 1138 a lot and according to the director himself it was of much influence to him, as was the work by Stanley Kubrick and Dante’s poem Divine Comedy. The movie has a pleasant pace and the build-op of suspense is just amazing.
The short tells the story of René, who lives in a simple small apartment and works at a simple small office behind a desk with an early 80s computer. He’ll soon be promoted to a different division and will be transferred to Circle Six. Somehow this upcoming development disturbs him, strengthened by the weird stuff that occurs in his apartment. Paranoia and the feeling of enclosure follow.
The severe camerawork results visually in some beautiful straight lined shots. The film has great shots of large white rooms and industrial corridors combined with rectangular shaped lighting which creates a nice minimalistic and futuristic atmosphere.
One of the better elaborated aspects of the short is the graphic and interface design, created by director Pesquera himself. Especially the typography is quite fascinating, every symbol is made from a trimmed circle. To comprehend it, check the sign put above the front desk (picture 4) reading as “control”.
René himself is carefully dressed too, wearing a black turtleneck knit with a perfectly fitted sand color three-button coat on top. In every shot you can retrieve the great amount of attention that was paid to set design and the even smallest details. A notable detail is the presence of vintage technology appearing side-by-side with modern technological devices.
Spare 20 minutes of your time to watch Círculo Uno in full motion at Vimeo. Enjoy.