The short film, Why Me?, directed by Shaha Mag is both very fun, very frightening and very thought provoking. But not necessarily in that order. This is a slightly abstract film, though it has a very clear story. It is shot in black and white, features an abstract clock and mysteriously costumed characters forcing others to play Russian Roulette. But what it reminded me of most was the film The Deer Hunter. That film also deals with Russian Roulette, and, I believe, the same theme.
In The Deer Hunter, the line we keep hearing again and again is the phrase, “one shot.” One character goes hunting with one bullet. He understands that this is the only life we have and that we have to make the best of it. Another character, played by Christopher Walken, comes face to face with the idea that you only get one shot in this life, and that thought drives him mad.
I think that Why Me? is operating on similar themes, although perhaps with a less easily summed up lesson. First off, the title is significant. Why me? Why anyone? Everyone faces the same fate, even though many of us take it quite personally never the less. Those who don’t have the courage to face the question, why me? will never achieve what they want in life. That is one possible explanation for the story. But it is probably not the only one.
The film shows several people from all walks of life being forced to play Russian Roulette by a bizarre entity with an eye-covering mask. If they manage not to blow their own heads off, they are allowed to leave. But, either voluntarily or as part of the unsaid rules, they leave something behind in a silver tray held by the entity. The participants don’t seem to know each other at all. But they do seem to understand the rules, even though they don’t seem to have agreed to be here. We get the sense that they’ve been brought here against their will in some sort of science experiment.
The items that are left behind are the most interesting part of the film. One spits. Does that mean he he has courage in the face of death? I once read somewhere in Hemingway that it very difficult for a man to spit just before a battle. Is it simply a gesture of hatred for the entity? Other leave behind money, a crucifix. Are these the things we live for? Money? Salvation? And what does it mean that these individuals leave these things at all? If they give up what’s most important to them, they can somehow escape death? If the priest gives up his cross, does that mean that he is or is not saved? Or has he simply become enlightened about the nature of the universe, life and death and now he can live free? The film seems to offer innumerable possible interpretations. All tantalizingly thought-provoking.
Other clues to understanding the film are that the film is shot in black and white. This seems to mirror the start difference between life and death. And, since life and death are all a matter of time, we spend a lot of time in this film watching a fascinating clock on which the numbers have been replaced by small images of hour and minute hands. It’s as though we’re looking at 13 clocks instead of one, or perhaps at some sort of whirlpool of time.
If I had to put my money on one interpretation, I would have to go with the one that I found in my gut rather than in my head. After watching this film, the strongest feeling I had was that I shouldn’t be afraid to face my fears. And perhaps that is what a real confrontation with death looks like. We recognize as clearly as a human being can that even we are going to die. And if that confrontation doesn’t drive us insane, or into spasms of cowardice, we can live free. In any case, this was surely one of the most fun and thought-provoking films I’ve seen in a while.
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