Lasagna Run

Lasagna Run is a supremely inventive absurdist comedy, written and directed by James Livitski. Within the space of less than four minutes, it depicts a simple journey with erratic, stylistically punchy visual flair. We follow a woman with anxiety who realises that she needs to retrieve her homemade lasagna from the oven and deliver it to her neighbour’s house as soon as possible. This short but arduous journey of her’s is conveyed in heightened, expressionistic terms as she traverses gruelling natural landscapes and extreme weather conditions.

The film is a technical triumph and creatively ambitious; yet it’s also definitively a work of entertainment, accessible to the casual viewer (a useful asset for a film wishing to bring attention to the subjective experience of anxiety, as this one does so successfully).

Director Livitski and director of photography / editor Matt Popowich clearly have an instinctive visual attitude and a sturdy knowledge of cinema. Within just the opening shot – a virtuosic zoom through reflection – they demonstrate stunning visual confidence. Then, when our protagonist runs to the kitchen, there are obvious yet well-implemented notes of Scorsese (specifically the rush in the second half of Goodfellas, the use of handheld through a domestic setting). But it’s the piece’s middle portion – its montage of landscapes, composed in a wide, flat, Wes Andersonian style – that is nothing less than masterful. Our filmmakers make it look easy, but the degree of preparation and visual specificity that must go into a sequence such as this cannot be overstated.

For this to work well, they needed to select the right medium focal length so as to compress the image enough to bring a painterly arrangement, but not so long a lens that would obscure any subjects or create a disconnect of depth between foreground and background. They then expertly utilise deep focus to create that Wed Andersonian flatness and compositional intricacy. And from an editorial standpoint, these are also effectively ‘match cuts’, wherein each shot should consistently mimic the position of the camera in relation to the subject. This is all incredibly high-level stuff cinematically speaking, and a genuine testament to the skill of the filmmakers.

There’s also an expert use of sound design and music to both heighten the suspense (through the use of rapid drumbeats) and immerse us in the quickly changing environments. It should be noted that the sound was designed and the music composed by one individual, Ethan Myers – an impressive accomplishment. Additionally, praise should go to the colour grading which is some of the best I’ve seen in a short film recently; the palette consists of gentle tones, yet somehow still vibrant and pleasing to the eye, with a subtle touch of film grain to form an organic look.

It’s a pretty unique thing to see a short film, concerned primarily with anxiety, that adopts a comedic tone to explore its issue. Not only that, but to maintain the feelings of panic and disorientation – whilst also building a cinematic world which is so aesthetically pleasing and gleeful – is not something easily achieved.