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★★★
Directed by: Joel Stockman
Written by: Jenny Foiack, Sara Hagno, Joel Stockman
Starring: Sara Hagno, Mikael Forsberg
When people are in crowded places they tend to get in each other's way. What would happen if two people are walking towards each other and neither moves out of the way? Director Joel Stockman's short comedy Yield explores such a situation with humour.
A woman (Hagno) is walking inside what appears to be a public transport hallway and a man (Forsberg) is walking towards her, in the opposite direction. After thinking and thinking, she eventually decides not to get out of his way.
The film contains no dialogue, however Hagno's voice-over is constantly heard throughout as she contemplates the philosophies of moving or not moving out of people's way. Her narration is very entertaining and makes her character likeable.
Hagno and Forsberg both deliver convincing performances. Apart from the ending, they both have poker faces on, indicating that they do not know each and that they are just going about their business.
From start to finish, the film uses slow motion, making an event that would normally last maybe twenty seconds, last two and a half minutes. The use of slow motion is very well executed and Stockman does a great job with the closeups (of which there are plenty).
This project earns a great deal of good qualities by Niclas Gustavsson's amusing and interesting score, that is heard from the beginning until the end and fits very well with the images and the narration. The sounds resemble constant clapping and they bring an uplifting tone to the film.
Yield is less than three minutes long, but that does not stop it from being an impressive piece of filmmaking for all the reasons mentioned above. It is clear to see that it had a lot of passion and hard work put into it.
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