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Directed by Octavian Repede
Staring Teodor Porumb, Paul Bondane, Camiku Repede, Dan Ioan Bogdan and Maria Tomoiaga
Short Film Review by Daniel Reason
With all the conspiracy theories regarding the moon landing of 1969 and the Space Race between Russia and the USA, it can prove to be quite difficult to get the whole truth about this point in history. In this short film, Octavian Repede provides us with a fictitious story about a Russian attempt to beat the USA, in The Last Dream for the Moon.
Where the film succeeds is through it’s believability. The details of this event are explained thoroughly, which make the film so believable and for that reason it can be compared to Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez’ cult horror film, The Blair Witch Project (1999) as that too was a story of fiction that seemed too detailed and real to be false.
Through Teodor Porumb’s character, Professor Werner, we are told all the “facts” and are presented with an in-depth analysis of them. When the film has finished, it would be easy to believe that this event did take place due to the level of accuracy in what we are told – a reaction that the aforementioned The Blair Witch Project (1999) also had.
However, due to how thorough the film can be, it does feel, overall, quite slow. The approximately 30-minute run time seems to drag and it feels a lot longer. Perhaps one such reason as to why this is the case is that some of the dialogue of Professor Werner is very slow itself. Often, he would say one word, take a pause and then continue with the sentence. It would have benefited to make these scenes and the dialogue a bit faster so that the short film wouldn’t seem like it’s dragging. Also, there were a couple of spelling mistakes within the subtitles, which then made it hard to not search for more.
Despite the issues with pacing, Repede has done a brilliant job with the overall direction. It is well shot and is presented in a unique way. There is a clear experiment in using different ways of filmmaking, which gives the film it’s own clear style and tone. The editing is done by Repede, also, and the footage matches the dialogue perfectly, which adds to the aforementioned believability of the film.
In conclusion, The Last Dream for the Moon is a new story about the Space Race, that can be very easy to believe. The level of detail and accuracy that Octavian Repede has put into this film is clear. However, the pacing of the movie makes it feel very slow and prevents the short
from being as interesting, and therefore as rewatchable, as it could have been.
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