Blue Plastic Bag

The writer-director Bijan Karim strongly believes in continuously looking within and rediscovering self to improvise on both the personal as well as professional levels in life. The short film-Blue Plastic Bag highlights the same through all three protagonists Armin (Bijan Karim), Lance (Alden Doyle), and Yasmin (Nilufar Moayeri).

The plot of the movie revolves around Armin a loner who decides to divide his time between his mother Yasmin a painter and his friend Lance also a painter while his girlfriend is away.

In the opening scene, the camera captures various slice-of-life moments from the life of Armin as the tracking shot is effectively utilised to showcase the mundane lifestyle of the central character. A series of mid-shots and close-up shots are used to portray the contrasting perspective of Yasmin and Lance on life, therefore, allowing the audience to better understand the nuances of the subject matter of the film. The set design, colour palette, and lighting. background music dialogues, costume, hair, and makeup have been kept natural to provide the viewers a sense of realism and relatability with the content hence increasing the degree of audience engagement with the content. The editing of the film gives a smooth movement of the narrative hence not breaking the element of continuity and the emotional connection of the viewers with the dramatic piece.

In terms of performance, Bijan Karim plays Armin who goes through a tough time while making various decisions that make a lot of changes in his life so he wants to seek help from his loved ones. Karim utilises body language, voice modulation, and facial expressions to effectively communicate the range of emotions the character is experiencing. The actor knows how to balance emotions and logic and this is the very aspect that makes the audience hold on to Armin up until the climax of the film.

Nilufar Moayeri plays the role of the mother of Armin who wants to safeguard her child from getting hurt and encourages him to find happiness for himself as it becomes the most important thing to survive the testing times. Moayeri with her portrayal brings the much-required experience to shape up Yasmin and put across her thoughts to uplift the storyline. The bond between Nilufar Moayeri and Bijan Karim assists in providing depth to the onscreen mother- and son relationship helping the filmmakers to deliver the key message of the creative piece.

Alden Doyle as Lance with his excellent comic timing gives a refreshing take on the expectation of the younger generation from life as he lends his ears to the problems of his friend. Lance emotionally appeals to the viewers and they learn a lot of life lessons from him during the running time of the cinematic piece.

Blue Plastic Bag talks about the importance of family and friends at all stages of life and one shouldn’t hesitate to ask for help in fear that he/she has grown up and should be dealing with the issues themselves. The short film tells us it becomes crucial to stay true to self and take care of the decisions made regarding the choices as one cannot make the mistake of losing his/her identity while complying with the rules and regulations of any relationship.