{"id":4215,"date":"2018-01-10T06:33:23","date_gmt":"2018-01-10T06:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/?p=4215"},"modified":"2018-01-10T06:35:19","modified_gmt":"2018-01-10T06:35:19","slug":"backstory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/","title":{"rendered":"A Man’s Life from Birth to Death"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oh boy – wow, we almost didn’t want to add this here, as it’s so bleak and depressing… yet, after just a few critical-thinking moments of reflection, it didn’t take us long to realize:<\/p>\n

“Wait a sec… we’re all about finding videos that show stuff on ‘on the fringes. Ideas and concepts that are uncommon in wisdom and guidance.. Those that cause the viewer to think, to have changed perspectives, to alter their life habits in some way!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, trust us, the short film above should do that. It’s ultimately about surrendering to what is inevitable: Death<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yet, as you watch it, we think you’ll start to see the brilliance in how the director highlights the key turning points in life, in living, that touch us all. And, you might even start to resent that you’re sitting in front of a screen wasting time watching this as you do. ;;)<\/p>\n

Now, over to Jason Sondhi<\/strong><\/span> for a longer review:<\/p>\n

\n

For such a serious and moving film, it\u2019s funny that\u00a0Backstory\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>title is a pun. The piece, a gorgeously shot, fast-paced tour through the life of its protagonist from birth to death, is his \u201cbackstory\u201d in a storytelling sense, highlighting the seminal moments\u00a0in\u00a0life that shaped him.<\/p>\n

Yet the term is doing double-duty, as it also (literally) explains the conceptual angle to the visuals\u2014our protagonist, played by 8 actors of varying ages, is shot throughout only from the back.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a variation on the first-person POV, and it\u2019s devastatingly effective. Though\u00a0Backstory\u00a0<\/em>is\u00a0punctured by occasional wonder, and elevated by romance, on the whole it is a very dour film, as\u00a0its subject experiences tragedies which he finds impossible to fully move on from, and which leave him empty and alienated from himself and his surroundings.<\/p>\n

We follow along for every step, and it\u2019s quite incredible the empathy that director\u00a0Joschka Laukeninks is able to summon within audiences despite largely denying us\u00a0that most effective of empathetic tools\u2014the human face.<\/p>\n

Forgoing scenes in a conventional sense, the crew shot for 17 days over 1.5 years to capture a myriad of moments assembled into a seamless montage, creating a propulsive rhythm of progression as the years pile on.<\/p>\n

Deadpan narration guides us through the experiences and supports the visuals breathlessness\u2014time keeps on piling on relentlessly, like the ticking of clock or the running sands of an hourglass. That said, it is cleverly constructed. While the film forgoes \u201cchapters\u201d, the pauses in the narration are well-timed to punctuate particular moments, allowing for us to settle on stellar images and soak in the emotion before racing off again.<\/p>\n

And gosh, are the images stellar.\u00a0Laukeninks first caught our eye in 2011 with his mass-romantic short\u00a0Back to Solitude<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>the success of which\u00a0<\/em>launched a healthy\u00a0commercial directing career<\/a>. It feels like he brought all that experience to bear on\u00a0Backstory,\u00a0<\/em>as it is incredibly lush to look at. Beautifully colored, with a diverse palette,\u00a0and\u00a0just the right amount of grain, you\u2019ll want to watch it again immediately upon completion. It\u2019s an incredible undertaking too, as massively complicated scenes like the burning of a house show up on screen for mere seconds. Laukeninks condenses a feature\u2019s worth of setups and locations into 6min, but it pays off.<\/p>\n

Still, your enjoyment of the film will depend on your ability to emotionally connect with the themes that Laukeninks is playing with. He wants no less than to distill the sublimity of life\u2014the horror of unceasing time, and the beauty we find within it. Indeed the two are inexorably intertwined for the director, as it is only in contrast to the existential disinterest of the universe that we can truly value the moments and connections that we make. But holding on means not letting go, and the repercussions of which are poignantly dramatized by the film.<\/p>\n

After a celebrated festival run,\u00a0Backstory\u00a0<\/em>debuts today online. With his technical command honed by working as a professional, and possessing a dramatic flair for emotional storytelling, it\u2019s unlikely we\u2019ll see\u00a0Laukeninks in the short form again anytime soon. Indeed, the Berlin-based director is currently working on 2 feature film scripts, and when he does make his feature debut, the world should take notice.<\/p>\n

This post originally appears on ShortOfTheWeek.com<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oh boy – wow, we almost didn’t want to add this here, as it’s so bleak and depressing… yet, after just a few critical-thinking moments of reflection, it didn’t take us long to realize: “Wait a sec… we’re all about finding videos that show stuff on ‘on the fringes. Ideas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[139,129],"class_list":["post-4215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-omg","tag-death","tag-short-film"],"yoast_head":"\nA Man's Life from Birth to Death –<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"A Man's Life from Birth to Death –\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Oh boy – wow, we almost didn’t want to add this here, as it’s so bleak and depressing… yet, after just a few critical-thinking moments of reflection, it didn’t take us long to realize: “Wait a sec… we’re all about finding videos that show stuff on ‘on the fringes. Ideas […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/hqdefault-5.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@riskyvideo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@riskyvideo\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Risky.tv\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/779ae4f07b5ba36821be401dccdaa0a4\"},\"headline\":\"A Man’s Life from Birth to Death\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-10T06:33:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-01-10T06:35:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/\"},\"wordCount\":734,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/hqdefault-5.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Death\",\"Short Film\"],\"articleSection\":[\"OMG & Profound\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/\",\"name\":\"A Man's Life from Birth to Death –\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/hqdefault-5.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-10T06:33:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-01-10T06:35:19+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/hqdefault-5.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/hqdefault-5.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":360},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Man’s Life from Birth to Death\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/\",\"name\":\"Risky TV\",\"description\":\"Videos For Mastering Life's Risks\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#organization\",\"name\":\"M4 Research\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/m4-logo-267x90-thrivecart.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/m4-logo-267x90-thrivecart.png\",\"width\":267,\"height\":90,\"caption\":\"M4 Research\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/riskytv\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/riskyvideo\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/779ae4f07b5ba36821be401dccdaa0a4\",\"name\":\"Risky.tv\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c858c827f6dce8e8070fc593eae5ba5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c858c827f6dce8e8070fc593eae5ba5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Risky.tv\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Man's Life from Birth to Death –","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"A Man's Life from Birth to Death –","twitter_description":"Oh boy – wow, we almost didn’t want to add this here, as it’s so bleak and depressing… yet, after just a few critical-thinking moments of reflection, it didn’t take us long to realize: “Wait a sec… we’re all about finding videos that show stuff on ‘on the fringes. Ideas […]","twitter_image":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/hqdefault-5.jpg","twitter_creator":"@riskyvideo","twitter_site":"@riskyvideo","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/"},"author":{"name":"Risky.tv","@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/779ae4f07b5ba36821be401dccdaa0a4"},"headline":"A Man’s Life from Birth to Death","datePublished":"2018-01-10T06:33:23+00:00","dateModified":"2018-01-10T06:35:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/"},"wordCount":734,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/hqdefault-5.jpg","keywords":["Death","Short Film"],"articleSection":["OMG & Profound"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/","url":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/","name":"A Man's Life from Birth to Death –","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/hqdefault-5.jpg","datePublished":"2018-01-10T06:33:23+00:00","dateModified":"2018-01-10T06:35:19+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/hqdefault-5.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/hqdefault-5.jpg","width":480,"height":360},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/backstory\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Man’s Life from Birth to Death"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#website","url":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/","name":"Risky TV","description":"Videos For Mastering Life's Risks","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#organization","name":"M4 Research","url":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/m4-logo-267x90-thrivecart.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/m4-logo-267x90-thrivecart.png","width":267,"height":90,"caption":"M4 Research"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/riskytv","https:\/\/x.com\/riskyvideo"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/779ae4f07b5ba36821be401dccdaa0a4","name":"Risky.tv","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c858c827f6dce8e8070fc593eae5ba5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c858c827f6dce8e8070fc593eae5ba5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Risky.tv"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risky.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}