Ralph review

Ralph is a short film written and directed by Alex Winckler that lasts for 12 minutes 37 seconds. It is about a young boy who travels to France alone in search of his friend whom he claims to be in a complicated relationship with. He spends a lot of time at a cafe outside of the train station and meets someone new.

Ralph is played by Ralph Laurila, Julie (Waitress) is played by Julie Dray and Claire is played by Emily Seale-Jones. Claire is who Ralph has travelled over to France to visit and Julie is the waitress who he meets at the cafe.

The film is a romantic drama that includes the main themes of loneliness, love and friendship. All these themes seem to be used at different times throughout the film; loneliness is portrayed mainly at the start when Ralph first arrives in France because he has come alone and cannot speak French. Love is also a theme that is shown because he is very eager to get in touch with a friend who he has come to visit; love is the only theme to be shown throughout because there are constant reminders to why Ralph is in France, this reminder is usually Ralph making phone calls and looking back at the piece of paper which has all the numbers he has tried. Friendship is shown nearer the middle of the film when he makes friends with the lady at the cafe. This budding friendship then drops the theme of loneliness because Ralph is no longer in an unknown country where he doesn’t know anyone

Camera shots are used during this film in different ways. Mid shots are probably the most used shot. I think this is used because then you are able to see the emotions of the characters clearly but you can also tell things from their body language. Body language is shown when Julie is talking to her boss, her shoulders are usually risen which shows that she is tense. Close ups are used a lot when the other characters around Ralph are talking French this helps the audience to understand how Ralph is feeling. When the other characters around Ralph are talking he looks confused which some audience members may be able to relate to if they also cannot speak French.   Over the shoulder shots are only used when conversation takes place between Ralph and Julie. These are used to establish the positions between the two characters because at some points Julie is kneeling so they are showing things from Ralph’s point of view.

Dialogue is a key and a very dominant aspect throughout the film. What the characters say helps you too understand what is going on during the film and is used a lot more than things like body language to show how they are feeling. When the characters speak in French they do not use any subtitles which I think is effective because it makes the audience feel as if they are in a foreign country and it puts the audience in the position of Ralph. Not very many sounds other than dialect are used during the film; the only sounds that are used are just what is happening in the area, for example the sound of cars can be heard however these sounds are not quietened down even during speech which I think is a very clever and effective way to put the audience in the scene.

In my opinion I think this film has defined the characters very well within the short time, you can create an opinion on all the characters. I liked the open ending because it allows the viewer to decide for themselves what happens next.