Aaron Dunleavy's Strays
Aaron Dunleavy's Strays paints a dystopian world populated by children unfettered by societal strictures.
The film takes place in a run down suburbia, opening with shots of overgrown bushes before cutting to two small boys hurling rocks, their target revealed to be a dead man in chains—a symbol of civilization overthrown. Other shots of children running and playing are shown but carry a similarly bleak ambience—they have dirt smeared on their faces and hands. Two boys are shown capturing a bird in a homemade trap and a girl does her own laundry in the sink, further establishing that the children are entirely alone and self-reliant. The images progress further, delivering small tidbits about the social structure of this world and the pressures …show more content…
The subtle score and use of silence adds to the film's eerie tone, also matched by its grey color palette. The quiet showcases the filmmaker's exquisite economy of images—perhaps the two most striking are the shot of a toddler crawling on the floor next to a bottle of spilled pills and a young girl pushing a stroller that her arms can barely reach. The most prominent effect of the scarce dialogue is that it pushes the film's central unsaid question to the forefront—where are all of the adults?
The camera work in Strays is beautifully executed and adds thematic resonance to the work. Many of the shots utilize depth to emphasize the emptiness of the surroundings, the palpable absence creating the presence of curiosity in the viewer. Close-ups of the children are used to emphasize their unkemptness and grimness in this brave new world. Further, the camera always appears slightly unsteady, a subtle bobbing motion masterfully used to reflect the instability of the world these children occupy as it tracks the motion of the various onscreen
The film takes place in a run down suburbia, opening with shots of overgrown bushes before cutting to two small boys hurling rocks, their target revealed to be a dead man in chains—a symbol of civilization overthrown. Other shots of children running and playing are shown but carry a similarly bleak ambience—they have dirt smeared on their faces and hands. Two boys are shown capturing a bird in a homemade trap and a girl does her own laundry in the sink, further establishing that the children are entirely alone and self-reliant. The images progress further, delivering small tidbits about the social structure of this world and the pressures …show more content…
The subtle score and use of silence adds to the film's eerie tone, also matched by its grey color palette. The quiet showcases the filmmaker's exquisite economy of images—perhaps the two most striking are the shot of a toddler crawling on the floor next to a bottle of spilled pills and a young girl pushing a stroller that her arms can barely reach. The most prominent effect of the scarce dialogue is that it pushes the film's central unsaid question to the forefront—where are all of the adults?
The camera work in Strays is beautifully executed and adds thematic resonance to the work. Many of the shots utilize depth to emphasize the emptiness of the surroundings, the palpable absence creating the presence of curiosity in the viewer. Close-ups of the children are used to emphasize their unkemptness and grimness in this brave new world. Further, the camera always appears slightly unsteady, a subtle bobbing motion masterfully used to reflect the instability of the world these children occupy as it tracks the motion of the various onscreen