Operator (2015, Caroline Bartleet)

Operator (2015, Caroline Bartleet) was by far one of my favourite short films. I thought the realism and intimacy of focusing on the operator herself, and only being able to hear the emergency was frustrating in the best way possible. It was irritating in a way that made you not be able to look away, I wanted to know so badly if the fire engines would get to the house on time and save the woman and her little boy, that I couldn't stop focusing on the film even if the 'action' itself wasn't ever shown. The way it was described forces you to picture the scene in your head, you almost create the action and imagery for yourself, and are in the exact same position as the operator in trying to establish what is happening on the other end of the line. 

There are a lot of close up and extreme close up shots of the operator, a white woman, throughout the film, only adding to the intensity and, to an extent, intimacy of the film. This is likely going to be one of the scariest events in this woman's life, and the operator on the phone is the only one who can help her in that moment - and we are positioned watching it unfold. There is no background noise past the contrapuntal sound bridge of telephone calls in the operator office, but once the call for the house fire is picked up, we can hear nothing but both ends of that phone call. 

The tension is what gives this film the edge for me. It is the same feeling when you can't put down a book; you cant pull your eyes away from the screen.