Scavengers is another weird wondrous short film by the talented duo Bennett & Huettner. It has their trademark visuals, a 1970s-ish colorful 2D animation and themes.
The film is wonderfully creative and odd; odd as in different, intriguing, and unusual. It has oneiric elements, psychedelic elements, surreal elements, and a visual exploration of the subconscious, all whisked up and organically fluffed to create a world that it is visually yummy but also meaningfully nourishing.
The main thing happening in the film is the exploration of the two human characters on the mysterious wild planet on which they are stranded. They collect, experiment and, most importantly, interact with the natural surroundings they find. We are shown that everything on this planet is made of the same substance, is utterly interconnected and, eventually, the two characters will also be part of this wonderful world.
The film is partly oneiric. If you have a detailed dream life, as I do, perhaps oneiric is not the word, as dreams can be quite realistic and non-fantasy. But oneiric as in the way the subconscious constructs dreams mixing symbolic elements in weird but organic ways that feel real and natural.
Probably this short film is more psychedelic than oneiric, but not especially trippy.
Bennett is interested in the Collective Unconscious, and I felt that this is especially clear towards the end of the film. This sort of exploration is really personal, depending on the artist, or on the person who munches about the CU. Personally, I see it as a repository of human knowledge, symbols, culture and ways of being that is embedded in the Universe, which is one. In that sense, Scavengers is more Carl Sagan than Carl Jung.
Carl Sagan once said "The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself." And also, "The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of star stuff." and I think these quotes fit perfectly the exploration that the directors carry out in this film.
This is an enjoyable fascinating odd film. If you are interested in more than mainstream cute animated stories, you'll probably love it.
