Potato Review

Potato is a 2021 short film directed by Mohamed Elbadry and written by Marwa Mustafa.

A detailed look into Vincent Van Gogh’s famous painting “Potato Eaters,” Potato crafts a stylized and haunting world that is hauntingly beautiful.

As a personal lover of Van Gogh and all of his painting it strikes as an inspired choice to craft an entire short film from a single painting. With this short, while some moments felt a little over the top, it does not push the boundary too far off from what would be a state of paranoia for those living in such a setting.

Where this film stands out is in the visuals, which can be broken down on a few levels. The first being the cinematography by Mahmoud Fawzy who creates the stunning aesthetic of lantern light to great effect here. The details are there but the shadows are heavy throughout, delivering a claustrophobic atmosphere to everything.

The next element has to be the makeup and overall style effects work from Lamyaa Mahmoud, Ahmed Taha and Nardeen Emad. These three, along with a dedicated team, brought a perfect three-dimensional recreation of Van Gogh’s brush strokes and work to life. It is quite amazing and is easily the highlight of the entire film.

Lastly, we have the acting which delivers great turns from the entire cast. They all seem to have their own pent-up issues ready to burst at the seams. There is a mounting tension that builds and builds with no direct resolution but ends in a nonetheless satisfying way giving us an almost 1 to 1 representation of the painting in film form.

All the elements shine together in a fantastic way in Potato which is made from a wonderful team with a clear dedication to the work of Van Gogh. It is quite a feat to even try to attempt touching such a prolific artist, but everyone here was clearly up to the challenge.

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Cheers!

Daniel Hess

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