A surreal thriller about a man who forgot he was terrorized by guilt
Fragments is a surreal thriller about a man who was so intensely terrorized by guilt that he was driven mad, and eventually his mind erased all traces of the event in order to relieve himself of the agony brought on by his remorse. The film is an exploration of this man’s memory as he begins to recall it after stumbling upon evidence of the incident by chance in his home. His recollection of what happened is nonsensical at first, as the images that come rushing back to are fractured and out of place, but as all the pieces fall into place he discovers what burden in his past was so terrible, his mind forced him to forget the whole thing ever happened. Equal parts ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ and ‘Inland Empire’ Fragments is an unsettling and intellectually stimulating film experience.
- Directed by Brendan Prost
- Written by Brendan Prost
- Produced by Brendan Prost
- Running Time 21 min
- Release Date 2008
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Country
Canada
- Content Rating Intended Audience: mature
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Written by Brendan Prost
Produced by Brendan Prost
Cast MIke Thorn:
John Delahunt:
Kayla Glynn:
Amitt Bahl:
Tim Ollivier:
Fragments is the very definition of guerilla filmmaking. Shooting essentially comprised of only the necessary actors in the scene, the director (who served as every member of the crew), as well as the occasional assistant to the director who operated lights or moved equipment around. The film was shot cheaply on digital video over the span of three months, and edited on Final Cut Express software in two.
Despite all these what some might refer to as "amateur" filmmaking practices, the final product is astonishingly well polished and professionally crafted in every technical element imaginable. And not speaking simply in terms of comparisons to other smaller filmmaking efforts, but to professional film productions that appear in well regarded film festivals everyday.
"With Fragments instead of telling you a linear story where their was a concise purpose to the material like I've done in the past, I thought it would be an interesting idea to make a movie that was an experience for the audience rather than an exercise in storytelling. I set out to invoke an emotional reaction from the viewer that they wouldn't know how to describe, that after the credits rolled would leave them speechless for a few minutes. If I've done well as a filmmaker, at the end of Fragments you should not be able to define whether you feel upset, disturbed, saddened, or horrified. In terms of plot and character, I hope that you are able to draw your own interpretation out of it, but at the same time I caution you not to take things too literally or try and force pieces of the puzzle together when they might not fit. Like a Lynch film, Fragments should leave you with plenty of questions, but you should not feel frustrated by a lack of answers. Take the experience for what it was, and enjoy what it made you feel and relish in what it made you think."
