Eye For Film >> Movies >> In The Shadow Of The Cypress (2023) Film Review
In The Shadow Of The Cypress
Reviewed by: Jennie Kermode

Cypress trees can grow in the toughest of places. They’re renowned for their resilience, andin iran they are trasitionally seen as symbols of purity, but they don’t provide much of a shadow. The characters in Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani’s Oscar-nominated short animation have little protection from the glare of the sun. The simple animation style makes them seem all the more exposed, unable to hide their shared suffering.
It is perhaps hardest for the man, who was once a creature of the sea, a captain; he has been confined to the land since his ship was torn apart in war. This we see in flashbacks, which cause him to rave and sometimes act out violently, in the lonely little house on the sunny shore. The boat sits just out beyond the waves, a stark metaphor for his brokenness. Perhaps he could repair it – or dispose of it – yet he takes no action. He seems to have succumbed to a downward spiral.

Anyone who spends much time around the water is taught that when a drowning person starts pulling them down too, it’s time to break away. Then man’s daughter is preparing to leave. Neither of them really wants it to be that way, but they both know it’s necessary. Her exit is interrupted, however, by a new arrival – a whale which becomes stranded on the beach. Both try to help it, digging trenches, cooling it with water, sheltering it with towels. It seems to be an impossible task. In the process of struggle, both will re-examine their approaches to life. Could this new crisis be what’s needed to force the captain to change?
A mixed methods approach using mostly hand drawn animation with traditional Persian motifs keeps the focus on the narrative, and visual layering reflects the layers in the story. There are hints of Moby Dick, with a twist at the end, and the presence of the daughter seems to represent an unwillingness to indulge in masculine self-destruction. Something is pulling the captain back towards life.
Reviewed on: 26 Jan 2025