THE GUARDIAN

An archaeologist arrives on a path near a medieval castle and finds an ancient vase bearing a seal. At the moment the man begins to tinker with the artifact, a skeletal guardian, armed with a sword and shield, materializes from nowhere and engages in a real duel with the archaeologist. Equipped with a few coins, a MiniDv camera, a program for creating 3D special effects, and a lot of goodwill, filmmaker Andrea Ricca has made "The Guardian", a charming short film that alternates action and horror, all with an ironic tone. Watching "The Guardian" is impossible not to think of the fantasy films of the 50s in which the contribution of the legendary Ray Harryhausen was fundamental for the revolution in the field of special effects: monstrous cyclopes, multi-headed hydras, metal giants, and, of course, living skeletons, all animated by a beautiful stop-motion of which Harryhausen was a master. Recently, Sam Raimi wanted to pay homage to the father of the clay creatures of "The Argonauts" with the cult "Army of Darkness" and it seems that today the thirty-four-year-old Ricca wants to follow the trend of special effects cinema, naturally opting for the most feasible digital technology. Although it lasts only four minutes (and a few seconds), "The Guardian" manages to tell an effective story that is mainly based on adventure and action. The plot is very simple and the language is one of those that aim without too many frills at pure entertainment: a tight fight between a man and a monster, between the one who represents scientific rationality (an archaeologist) and the symbol of the most classic supernatural (a skeleton warrior). Although it is a short film clearly created for the special effect, surprisingly there is a care for everything that nevertheless represents the context of the effective wonder; as I said, in its absolute simplicity, the story works very well avoiding creating that annoying sense of incompleteness that often very short shorts (and more pretentious narratively) leave at the end of viewing. Ricca's direction, who is not a beginner and is here dealing with his eighth short film, is very careful and attentive to the perfect clarity of the action, supported then by a tight and fluid editing (always by the director), notoriously more difficult when it comes to effectively rendering action scenes. The only actor in flesh and blood on the screen, Michele Di Mauro, gets by rather well and shows he has the right face for the role. The original music and natural sets that use the views of the medieval castle Arechi, near Salerno, are not bad either. Of course, one can only break a lance in favor of digital special effects, which nevertheless represent the core of the work. Ricca, specialized in creating 3D animations, has indeed spent much of the work precisely in creating the skeleton and its interaction with the actor, taking four months in post-production, for only four days of filming. The final special effect is dignified and even more credible than many computer graphics effects that fill minor real film productions that then end up occupying the shelves of video stores. In short, "The Guardian" is a small work that aims to entertain the viewer and undoubtedly succeeds, a style exercise that also has the merit of effectively telling a simple and immediate story. Watch it, it's worth it! The entire film follows here.