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The Big Empy

This was quite possibly the most confusing short film I have ever laid my eyes on. Personally, I never in my wildest dreams thought that a film could be made entirely out of the topic of a woman's vagina...unfathomable. Yet it was...and I was astounded to realize the movie was symbolic although the subject matter seems so literal.

In this movie, a woman has an ache and in the begginning we see a montage of all different doctors failing to diagnose what the problem is. This poor girl was in pain and no one could help her. Finally she goes to a specialist who jumps inside of her (yes this movie is fantastical) and discovers her insides to be completley empty, cold, and a tundra. He then makes her his puppet, selling her abnormality to the public as some sort of amazing feat of life, defying all logic. As if she were a circus freak, she was dragged around on display for the world to see that she was different.

You might wonder what happened to the ache? It went unnoticed, and untreated. Finally a man asked her if being so empty hurt. The only person to recognize that this difference might actually cause her some pain. This was the climax of the film; this moment is where all symbolism unites to illustrate the idea of loneliness. Alice, played by Selma Blair is finally looked at as something more than just an object on display. She was viewed as a person. The thoughtful man then jumped inside of her and never came out. This was the other symbolic moment of the film.

All these weird fantastical events add up to one moral; although everyone is alone, there is someone out there who cares about you. Until you find the one you love and who loves you back, no one will be able to take away the ache of an incomplete heart. The person who ur pain and sees you for who you really are is the one who can remove the ache forever.

Portraying the idea of love and loneliness through the mode of vaginas is quite remarkable. In order for this movie to not be obscene or awkward in any way, the director had to find the line between inappropriate and entertainment. Lisa Chang and Newton Thomas Sigel did a superb job directing and cast to create a movie that had something to say on life in general. To some, the message might be hard to find because they are caught up in the subject and how ridiculous the story is. However the message is obvious and I absolutely loved it.