The Screw

An acted grotesque, and one of the most original and charming shorts that appeared in the short film section at the French film festival. A highly stylized spectacle, when a typical bourgeois portrayed by Jean Reno purchases a package of screws at a luxury department store, prepares for handyman activities, and to his unpleasant surprise discovers that one of the screws is missing a notch for a screwdriver. Affronted, he decides to return the goods and teach the department store a lesson. This is followed by a strange odyssey through various corners of a vast labyrinth filled with peculiar characters in bizarre situations. The film is built on an atmosphere that closely resembles the works of Franz Kafka. The bureaucratic overworked system defends itself against the complaint in its own way and the main character of this grotesque spectacle may find himself in the end. Overall impression: 90%. (24/11/2009)