SWORD PLAY
Short Film Review – Mordraud
***1/2
Review by Justin T. Bowler
@IndyFilmTwittic
“Mordraud” is a fantastic little short. By “Fantastic”, I mean Extraordinary. By “Little”, I mean Epic. By “Short”, I mean under 23 minutes.
Who says a short can’t be just as large in scope as a full length feature? Riccardo Piana is a one man show that directed, edited and DP’d this marvelous medieval/fantasy short that is better than most full-length features in this genre released today (Seriously, it’s great, and I want to work with this guy!).
Focusing on action and story, the only dialogue is narration (thus eliminating the problems sound brings to a production of this genre and magnitude) (This is an absolutely brilliant idea from producers Matteo Foschi and Maria Alice Gori). Individual shots were carefully plotted out, and even the use of After Effects were used only to enhance the story (some of the most enhanced shots are just throwaways that do not call attention to themselves; rather, they just serve the story and art direction of the film). “Mordraud” is adapted from a novel by the same name by Fabio Scalini. Based on Riccardo Piana’s success with this film, I would love to see him tackle Assassin’s Creed (or Batman). All short filmmakers need to do themselves a favor and see how epic this film looks, then dissect it for how it got there. It is truly something to be applauded. I’ve not seen a short in this genre that was done this well before.
3.5 out of 4 stars. See this film at
Your Indie Film Reviewer,
Justin T. Bowler
@IndyFilmTwittic
Directed by: Riccardo Piana
Run Time: 23 Minutes
