Rhinoceros Eyes

The (anti) hero of the story is the introverted orphan and idiot-savant Chep, who works in a huge warehouse full of props. Customers do not often come there, but when one does, things hot up straightaway. The attractive and perfectionist production designer Fran asks Chep for a couple of authentic rhinoceros eyes. Chep doesn’t have them in stock, but knows where he can get them. He puts on his Tor Johnson mask and steals the eyes one night from a porn film set. It may be because of the many melodramas he sees in the local cinema, but he is soon able to think of nothing else apart from Fran. He is determined to make an impression on her and that makes him do increasingly crazy and violent things. In Chep’s head, insanity gradually takes over from reality. The versatile Aaron Woodley has been making films since the age of seven. In this case, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree: Woodley is a nephew of David Cronenberg. Rhinoceros Eyes does have some affinity with the violent-bizarre Cronenberg game with reality, but this film is more friendly and in some ways also more traditional, although there is quite a lot of play with film conventions and (above all B) film genres. Lighting, production design, beautiful roles, especially that of Michael Pitt (Chep), music (by Aaron’s brother Eric) and short animation sequences (with echoes of Svankmajer) all contribute to this rich, atmospheric fantasy sketch.