“I’ve already eaten two people and drank the alcohol out of their veins.” What better opening line for a film about a fallen community of alcoholics living in a closed container fed by the garbage of a surrounding town? The Tragic Story of Nling follows the story of August and Donkey in the dying days of this community. August, the last of this alcoholic group, is best friends with Donkey–an actual donkey who, while previously working as a university professor in the surrounding town, was cast amidst the garbage dwellers during a crackdown of donkeys in high-standing circles. To add to this bizarre scenario, director Jeffrey St. Jules composed the film as an animation piece of sorts, constructed out of thousands of scanned images of live action. In other words, each frame from the movie was printed out on paper, cut out and then scanned. The staggered effect is eerily reminiscent of film running through a projector, rendering the characters as tossed away pieces of trash themselves. The Tragic Story of Nling is a darkly funny and bizarrely sombre film. (James King)
Dir. Jeffrey St. Jules