miryam-88521
A short film that can be compared to films of great importance, for the issue that it talks about, for the vividness of the scenes, for introspection of the character. In a not too distant future, the entire world population was wiped out by an alien invasion, except the protagonist, who finds himself living alone, in despair and discouragement that he was perhaps the only one survived on Earth. When finally he finds another human being like him, hope again turns on, but unfortunately it is just another alien trap. The final scene is very touching, because we understand as the protagonist must put aside humanity left to him and kill the other human, but in the end - driven by guilt and by the awareness of not having an escape - he decides to kill himself. I think it's a masterpiece, I really recommend it!
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
Population Zero is a German-language 12-minute short film from 1.5 years ago. The writer and director is young Swiss filmmaker Robert Kouba and he cast Julian Schaffner in here with whom he works regularly and also his own dad. The latter gives us the introduction about aliens who came to Earth and seem to have turned everything into disaster. Not much later, there is a considerably jump in time and we follow Schaffner's character for the rest of the film. It is a world where human life has almost completely ceased to exist. Yet he finds a boy somewhere. Is there hope for the people who are struggling so hard in this post-apocalyptic world? There certainly is no hope for Kouba if he does not manage to step up in the coming years. It's a bit disappointing that this was already his seventh short movie as filmmaker and yet I see no real talent here. Still he is only in his early 20s, began truly early with making movies, so there is still hope. However, "Population Zero" is not a good film and it's sometimes even difficult to understand what exactly is going on with the main character.
angiequidim
Usually most independent shorts of this caliber are missing something; either the sound mix is terrible, the acting is so/so or the cinematography is just awful. In Population Zero, this is not the case. The production value is of studio quality. Writer and Director Robert Kouba is no stranger to this medium and has successfully completed serveral shorts. Although there aren't many spoken lines in the film, the cast was just brilliant and the cinematography reminded me of cut scenes from a video game that was just impeccable. Every detail was carefully looked after that made this a joy to watch. I look forward to seeing this concept developed out into a full feature someday.
Jill D Squared
Brilliantly and immediately drawn in to the the intense mood of the movie. The filmmakers mastered the suspense and feeling of tension with incredible, dark, post-apocalyptic cinematography and an incredible music score. The lead character is very convincing in his portrayal of a man on the brink of a complete psychological breakdown as images of aliens attack the world. I truly enjoyed the VFX which can sometimes come across as a bit corny and detract from the film. That was not the case here. This 11 minute film is well worth the watch....my only complaint is that it did not break from the intense mood at all. I would like it to be a bit longer and break from the suspense - if even for a minute or so. Otherwise, really enjoyed this short film. Hope to see more.
AD
