One of the many short films that SXSW are showcasing is the French animated student film Au 8ème Jour, or On The 8th Day, an eight-minute short depicting the creation and sudden collapse of a planet we can only assume to be similar to Earth. Many filmmakers in recent years have made films inspired by the threat of climate change, so while the message of this short may be nothing new, there is something very novel as to how the directors chose to present this through the form of animation. Especially for a student film, there’s a lot of really creative imagery here and some interesting ideas being explored that deviate from the usual ways that these themes are normally addressed.
The computer animation here is wonderfully deceptive. I thought it was stop motion until a making-of video proved me otherwise and while my heart initially sank, since I love stop motion and champion it way more times than is healthy, the rendering and execution of these designs is exquisitely done and makes this world feel both comfortably intimate, and absolutely gargantuan.
The start of the film is particularly eye-catching, transitioning from an abstract landscape of non-descript shapes and colours, before following the camera to the nucleus of this system, its beating heart if you will.
It truly is a treat to look at, with distinctive woolly and fabric textures commonly not used in animation. It’s this attention to detail, making computer animation look like it’s a stitched-together tapestry, that makes the visual presentation of this world falling apart utterly devastating. It’s very hard to achieve emotional resonance when you have no dialogue to fall back on, but the wonderful worldbuilding in the visuals managed to make me distraught that this beautiful planet was falling apart.
Another thing that made this work really well is the accompanying soundtrack. It starts as a lush and vibrant soundscape and in some ways continues in a similar vein, but it subtly changes throughout into a much more melancholic and ambient piece that was haunting but also strangely beautiful.
Au 8ème Jour leaves things on an apocalyptic but also hopeful note, where we see peace among the chaos. Especially among the current debates about climate change, it’s always been a focus of many scientists to give people hope, because that way people can motivate themselves to change their ways, something that the creators have took in their stride here. It’s an unexpected ending but one that really worked for me.
Where Au 8ème Jour can fall short are the flaws that arise from the inevitable limitations of the format. In this case, this group of five students have to tell the story of the rise and fall of an entire fictional world in just eight minutes, and while those are admirable intentions, it means that they have to reduce this concept to the most basic of elements. As a result, we gloss over certain things that would have enhanced the experience even more, such as seeing this world thrive for a longer time and seeing how it functions. Especially crucial for a climate change allegory, we don’t really find out what caused this sudden deterioration and how, or even if, this population were responsible for it.
OK, these criticisms may be completely invalid since this is a short film and not a feature, but even just an extra 2-3 minutes could’ve helped this team get a lot more done. Despite that, I am really impressed by Au 8ème Jour. It’s a wonderfully unique and gorgeously atmospheric piece that tells a well-worn story with novel animation and striking music. I think that the filmmakers could’ve perhaps taken the idea further than they did, but even in this somewhat barebones state it’s still a very accomplished piece of work.
Au 8ème Jour (2023) played at SXSW 2024
(click poster below for trailer)
