Directed by Paulo d’Alva (whose works “A noite cheirava mal” and “Carrotrope” have been presented at previous Curtas Festivals) and António Pinto, this is a film of contrasts: the colour animations and black and white archive images, the music (courtesy of Dead Combo) and the mute characters, the (predominantly) surrealist tone and the realism (provided by the archive images), and finally the omnipresent – but ambiguous – notion of time (the countless clocks that appear symbolically) and the temporal and logical-narrative discontinuity throughout the film. A mysterious and intricate puzzle for the audience, but nonetheless poetic and melancholic, the film as a whole may suggest a dream, a delirium or the fantasy of a child who does not want to grow up, an idea emphasised by the effect of resisting the passage of time (the clocks are invariably set to either 12:17 or 20:17) and a certain nostalgia for childhood (the swing, the child in front of the train). There are various pointers and loose ends along the way (“Crime and Punishment” by Dostoyevsky, for example), but the delight of the film (and ultimately of all art) lies in contemplation rather than decoding. Contrary to what we are usually told, the train does not go past once only. (FN)