A mother tells a bedtime story to her son about the father he has never met in the surreal short film Life’s Design by James Dubbeldam.
It’s fair to say that James Dubbeldam has had a rather busy year when it comes to film-making. We have already reviewed three of his short films – LIFE Happens, I Am ______, and Your Worst Enemy; and we found all three to be strong and unique pieces of work. With his fourth offering, Life’s Design, we get to see his most trippy and unconventional short to date. How unconventional? If David Lynch and Alejandro Jodorowsky came together to make a ten-minute piece, it would likely look like this.
As soon as the film begins, we hear the voice of a woman as she talks to her (silent) son about his father. This voiceover is placed over exterior scenes of woodland with the man, who is named as Luke Anderson (Robert Taylor), walking deeper amongst the trees as he searches for something. We soon find out that his desperate search began after he received a photograph, one that is of himself lying on the ground naked beside an old fallen tree.
Split into four chapters, Life’s Design contains some fantastic photography of nature, we see close-ups of spiders creating intricate webs, vultures sat on treetops, birds ripping away the flesh of a dead young deer, the birthing of a lamb, and of course the full-frontal nudity of the lead actor, all of which we were surprised to see in a short film. It adds to the uniqueness of the short though, and works well within the context of the piece.
Only two actors feature in Life’s Design, the aforementioned Robert Taylor, and Bita Paige as Sarah Williams (the narrator). Bita had also featured in Dubbeldam’s LIFE Happens, and it was great to see her again in this.
Robert Ballmaier, who did a fantastic job composing the score to LIFE Happens, knocks it out of the park in Life’s Design too. His score adds to the excellent visuals, whilst never trying to become the centre of attention.
Whilst it is certainly different, Life’s Design may not be the most approachable of Dubbeldam’s films to date. It’s definitely not mainstream, but then, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. As they say, you can’t please everybody, but if you sit back and just allow the short to wash over you, you may just appreciate the art on display. We did, and we are thankful we were given the chance to view it. Well done, James.
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