Marina

“Marina” is a drama that revolves around a little girl who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy and showcases her decline and the effect it has on her dad. It’s a heavy film and gets really emotional (I’m not crying; you’re crying!) at times. How well it’s shot and the awareness this film brings really makes this stand out as being a short film that I’d want to show others and the how cinema can move you.

What this film accomplishes the best, besides the obvious moving aspect, is it establishes a real connection between the father figure and the little girl, Marina. The relationship between the two is on par of the moments where the little girl becomes, daddy’s girl, and it’s extremely adorable. When those two were on screen, it felt genuine and I instantly felt more like an observer watching two real people interact with one another instead of actors.

Another aspect I absolutely loved about this film was the fact it doesn’t keep the mom out of the picture entirely even though she has passed away and her daughter inherits the genes from her. The moments we see the daughter and her mother on the screen are just as endearing and heartbreaking as they are with the father. The sequences she is in are shot in a manner where it feels very ethereal and dream-like. Which really surprised me at first because I wasn’t expecting Marina to have these memories and visions of her mother on my initial viewing.

Another element I really appreciated of this short film was the music. It really emphasized the kind of emotion we were meant to be feeling by the end. In a way it helped move the story along as well as it would slowly creep up and the moments that the music is used are moments we are supposed to be focused on specifically. They’re the moments that mean the most to Marina as she’s the one we see this film through.

I wasn’t aware of this condition and I certainly did not know the children can suffer from it. To witness Marina’s downfall and the impact it has on her father is heartbreaking, but in a good way. I was blown away by how much it actually touched me by the time the credits rolled. The condition would be devastating news to learn of and I can’t quite say that I know of anybody who has it (yet; knock on wood). It’s an awful disease that’s up there with ALS where it makes the body suffer and go through hell before it lets them pass away.

I would recommend this to anybody who personally knows of someone who carries this rare disease or if you like a short film that can move you in 13 minutes or less. It’s well made, well executed, and has believable performances across the board. What more would you not want when you’re watching a film? It’s eye opening and heartfelt. Something that’s hard to accomplish with a short film, but this does just that.