The Autobiography of Tom Stern, Chapter Six: The New Science

Tom Stern tells the story of when he was younger (Him) and he met the girl he loves (You), which involves a battle with her then- partner, as well as overcoming the challenging of living with her (You) and the ghosts of his previous partners.

This short film has a title which very much matches the tone of the whole short, since it is deliberately obtuse and a bit arty in style. This continues with the short itself, which has wryly composed dialogue, odd sequences of fights that were not real, a very odd structure in terms of the physical presence of old partners and the narrator, and generally an odd presentation style which feels a bit like students throwing too much at a project and making something that is "out there" whether it works or not. The thing is though, that despite itself, it does work. The obtuse and arty presentation in style and content will put many off, but it all sort of fits together and it feels like a whole, rather than it being lots of stuff thrown and some sticking.

It is not a pretty film to watch, and the sound quality often leaves much to be desired however the consistency in the quirky difficultness, and the fact that it seems to have control of what it is doing and how it is doing it, does mean it works well, and that it drew me in. Yes at the same time the arty and "oh so clever" feel of the short also pushed me away, but I liked it more than I expected – albeit pretty much despite itself.