Response to The Short Movie "The Gift"

      In today's class, we saw three short movies. 

      The first short movie “The Gift” is a kind of scientific fiction placed in Moscow, Russia. The movie begins with a man who walks alone with fear and holds a box. He goes to a very luxury house that is filled with high technologies, especially the robots. He is available to the house after his saliva is tested, and then meets the master of the house in one room. The master opens the box by his hair, and he says there is a unicorn in the box. The man kills the master and tries to escape holding the box, but unfortunately, a car crashed him. The robot in the house gets the box and has a savage chase with some people. Finally, he throws the box into lake, and a little boy find the box by the lake.

       The screen of the movies is based on the grey instead of various colors, so this movie makes me feel a sense of isolation, coldness and lack of humans. The murder, chase and hunt make the movie a little cruel.

       This short fiction based on movie uses juxtaposition that combines old things and futuristic world together. From the appearance of the box, it seems like a very classical thing, but to my surprise, it is opened by testing the DNA. It’s common to see a servant in one’s house, but it’s very advanced to see robots as servants and guards. Besides, the settings include Moscow and house are very traditional, but they are filled with high technology.

       The box is very mysterious and is likely to be a key to humanity. The unicorn is a metaphor of unreal and mythical world. I cannot help doubting the fate of the little boy. That how the box will change his life is the imagination that this movie leave to me. The ending is just another beginning to the boy’s life.