Wings

Synopsis

A young girl gets inner growth through the accidental death of her pet.

Wings, a short film written and directed by American filmmaker Jia Xu, takes to the screen a defining experience during the growing up years of a young girl. Considering her reaction in the end of the movie, it is probably the first time she experiences death or the first time she feels responsible for it. The plot is rather simple, which is not a problem for a novice director whose principal purpose is to practice the ability to tell a story using cinematic grammar.

The protagonist Nancy is a girl who is always competing with her twin friends Jack and John. In the first scene, for example, the boys are showing off because they have found more interesting insects to put into battle the next day. In order not to be interiorized, she decides to lie and says that her father will give her a puppy the next day. However, when she returns home, she finds her mother absolutely contrary to the idea of her having a puppy, because she thinks her daughter is too young for it. But her more permissive father brings Nancy a bird in a cage. As he explains, it is only temporary, during one week, while the owner of the pet is away travelling. This will serve as a test to see if the girl is capable of taking care of a pet.

Directed by

Jia Xu

Jia Xu

Written by

Cast

Lilli Rose Rittner, Jake Holliman, Aiden Holliman, Eva Albright, Daniel Scott

Jia Xu

The plot is simple but appealing to a wide audience for dealing with universal emotions. Who hasn’t made terrible mistakes as a child, for naivety’s sake? And as a consequence, felt that a problem that is not so severe seems the most terrible ever? Looking back, it is just a part of the process of growing up. But in that particular time, it seemed like the end of the world. And the short film Wings effectively explores the dramatic impact in its protagonist.

From the first to the last scene, child actress Lili Rose Rittner expresses the emotions of the main character with a astonishing spontaneity, combining the naïve but challenging nature of Nancy. As counterparts, the acting of Jake and Aiden Holliman, as the twin friends, has a looser quality that is at the same time friendly and provocative. Even without the intention to dive too deep into the psychology of the protagonist, it is possible to sense a connection between the competitive disposition of Nancy and the constant arguments her parents have.

Mainly, director Jia Xu seems focused on making the narrative easily understood by the viewer. Therefore, the dialogues in Wings are as important as the images. When she decides not to use words she lands on safe grounds such as the sequence with a montage of a myriad of shots showing Nancy and the bird together in different situations during one day to show that she is quickly becoming closer to the pet. And, before she goes to sleep she even chats with it. But to build a dramatic scene such as the mistake Nancy makes, the dialogues are present. One of the twins defies her to give a bath in the bird, asking her if she is scared. Besides the words, the background music is also important. For example, a somber music is heard during the bath and the following events.

In general, the movie is well shot. But there are two moments that look awkward. One on the following morning of the first day with the bird. In this shot, the bird is positioned right at the bottom of the cage and it is very difficult to see it, and this gives the impression that it is dead or has disappeared. The other one is when Nancy says that she is going to call the bird Predacon, but her lips are not moving. Maybe she is just thinking it, but it is not clear.

On the other hand, two scenes stand out. In the first shot of Nancy at her home, the camera is on the level of the girl’s eye, which is a resource that empowers the empathy with the character – similarly as the way Steven Spielberg shot E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) entirely. And after the bird’s death, while Nancy’s mother is scolding her off, there’s a delicate and touching detail shot of the girl curling her hands fingers on her trousers.

In Wings, through a simple but universal story, filmmaker Jia Xu proves her ability to deal with the resources to tell a narrative in a movie.

2021, USA, 10 min

Produced by

Xiangwu Xie

Eduardo Kaneco

Film critic, the founder of Leitura Filmica