Bright Future review - CRUMBS by Miguel Llansò

Ethiopia is post-apocalyptic in Miguel Llansò's surrealist debut feature Crumbs, which had its world premiere in the Bright Future section of the 44th International Film Festival Rotterdam.
 
Having made a number of shorts that made an impact on the international film festival scenes in Ethiopia, Spanish filmmaker Miguel Llansò finally makes his debut in the feature film scene. The result is a collection of images and sentiments, with a very creative use of the Ethiopian deserted and wasteland-like landscape which can me described as a post-apocalyptic mish mash of genres forwarded by a very surrealistic vibe.
 
If we were to contextualise the story, we would see that it revolves around the unique actor Daniel Tadessa, whose unusual physical form seems second to his obvious abilities as a distinctive character actor. Living in the afore mentioned post apocalyptic world, he spends his time wooing his precious love bird and collecting elements (or the titular crumbs) of a decaying civilisation - such as record sleeves, toy swords - mostly junk. But the narrative is impulsive brought forward by elements of science fiction, through a spaceship hovering in the sky that begins to show activities, and constant quarrels with unusual characters, such as second generation Nazis and none other than Santa Claus.
Of course, the outrageousness of the sparse madness of Crumbs draws inspiration from the paradox of poverty and the even more blatant paradox of Western culture influx, that instead of exporting its wealth of culture purposefully decides to export its capitalistic shallowness. The junk so well treasued and sought after throughout the film gradually and relentlessly starts to lose its appeal, and this fact is illustrated with a poignant and almost downright absurdist sense of humour that drives the narrative straight to its core observations on popular culture and the decadence of modern civilisation.
 
Crumbs is also a piece of visual wealth. On top of that, it is alsoa tribute to the adventurous creativity of Miguel Llansò and his sporadic and clever vision of turning a junk filled and naturally beautiful desertic setting into something fictional and hypnagogic - which also works wonderfully through a great work of cinematography. Structurally, it eventually becomes repetitive, but for its essentially experimental nature, it is remarkable to consider how much fun it actually is.

CRUMBS TRAILER from Lanzadera Films on Vimeo.