Dana Isabelle A.

Alfaro
1BSA-6
Critique Paper about the Short film “Operata”
“A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.” - Steve Maraboli
Operata was a short film produced years ago, it epitomized how kindness and
compassion can transform lives and affect outlooks of people who have gone through hardships
and barriers. The short film embodied selflessness, it showed how people can still be kind
despite of the horrible and traumatic experiences they’ve had in the past. I must say, despite of
the amateurish aura looming around in some selected scenes which I will be discussing later on,
the film has managed to tell a story with the intent of touching the hearts of its viewers.
At first, I honestly felt a bit hesitant and queasy about the film. The opening scene was a
bit confusing and rowdy in my opinion for the reason that the execution of lines, facial
expressions, and body movements seemed “too” staged for me. There were certain scenes
wherein I was unable to feel the sincerity of the actor in terms of portraying his/ her character,
some of the lines were perplexing as well so it was hard to understand what a certain scene was
all about or why a character suddenly emerged. Also, as I was watching, I noticed that the
phasing of the film was kind of messy since there were a lot of twists and turns in it, in which I
deeply understand because I felt the writer’s urge and thirst to produce a unique story. But then,
sometimes those twists can either make or break a film.
Frankly, one can easily notice that the execution of the short film was “all over the
place”. I can’t quite point out the exact problem, but all I can say is it is exasperating to cramped
a story with tons of twist in a short film that’s not even bound to run for an hour or so. I
personally believe that it is possible to tell a good story without having to force unwanted scenes
or twists that are not that relevant anymore, because instead of fueling the excitement or height
of emotions of the viewers, it just makes the film confusing and forced in the end. On the other
hand, If I were to ignore all those observation and subjective judgments, I highly appreciate the
fact that the writer of the film tried to tell a story based on reality, but with a hint of fantasy and
reverie. It is never easy to write a story, to produce and direct a film, or to even portray a
character that is why despite of some technical issues regarding Operata, I am still grateful that I
have watched it for once again, the saying “Don’t ever judge a book by it’s cover” has been
proven.
In conclusion, Operata can still improve in so many ways. It could’ve been executed
differently, the lines could’ve been modified, or the characters could’ve been portrayed by
different people. But then, there is no such thing as perfect and I think its rawness should be
appreciated instead, especially that the film is an amateur one so it’s not too bad at all because
for me, what matters most is the intention and effort of the people behind the short film,
Operata.
 And to sincerely end my critique paper, I would just like to expound what I’ve realized
and learned from watching Operata, and that is to always be mindful of making judgments
about other people because each of us has a story to tell, and a scar to heal.