Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Wanderers" is a short film from 2 years ago written and directed by Erik Wernquist. It is his first and so far only work and runs for 4 minutes and this already includes half a minute of credits. The best thing about it is easily the visuals. It is fairly stunning to watch from start to finish. Unfortunately, the complete lack of a story and lackluster narration makes this one a fairly uninspired overall outcome. This is definitely a case of style over substance and I am very much surprised about the success of this little movie. The complete lack in certain areas result in me finding this one not even remotely memorable. Thumbs down. Don't watch.
bob the moo
I travel a lot as part of my work – usually nowhere particular far or exciting, but every now and again I find myself walking through a big city like Shanghai, New York, Melbourne or somewhere quite exotic, and I catch myself with the sense of wonder that a person from a very small town in Northern Ireland would be in such a place so far and so different from my own life. I know these cities are home to millions and visited by millions more, but it is a feeling I get occasionally which strikes me with wonder of our ability to travel generally, and also gratitude that at the minute it applies to me specifically.I mention this because that sense of gratitude, of wonder at what is possible, is a feeling that I got from this short film – albeit based on a much bigger picture than a 16 hour flight. The film is presented without any actual story but it is just images of our solar system showing man's branching out into it. In terms of the images the film is beautifully done; I recommend going to the Wernquist's website to see the images and sources he drew on to make this short. Whether it is based on real shots taken by NASA, or imagined landscapes drawn from literature or theory of what it might be like to be out there, the short film is technically very impressive in how it creates these images and puts man within them.Of course to just deliver a bunch of smooth computer generated images is not really enough – even though it is a mistake so many short films make. However this is not the case here because although we have no story or characters, the film successfully conveys the sense of wonder to the viewer. It does this via the convincing visuals but also the use of music throughout. The final shot is wisely a simple one – a person, most of whose face we cannot see, but we recognize the effects of a smile on her face, and the sense of wonder and gratitude in her eyes; it is not something that the film needs to really spell out since for most viewers it will be a feeling that the previous minutes had already captured.Wanderers doesn't have a story, or characters but it is a great piece of sci-fi animation because it not only reaches out into the stars but it successfully makes the viewer do so too; very much worth seeing.
