Film run-time: 13 minutes | Starring A. J. Bond
Written and Directed by A. J. Bond, Produced by Amy Belling and A. J. Bond, Cinematography by Amy Belling
“Hirsute“, a 2007 short film by A. J. Bond, is a story about self-discovery and self-love, that can also be viewed as a reflection of deeper impulses that stay inert or are actively denied, which come to the surface as a veneer of preconceived notions shatters. A physicist aiming to invent time travel discovers that it has already been done—by none other than his future, hairless self.
At the heart of the film, beyond its science fiction premise, the exploration is of change and personal growth, emblematized by a change in physical appearance. The unenlightened physicist, with his white colour scheme and transparency, is a “vanilla” interpretation of himself; he is unaccustomed to the refinements of the older male, his future self, who has a cultivated sense of being and a newfound intimacy and freedom of expressing his sexuality.
A denial of self, in the protagonist’s refusal to accept the dynamics of his dormant sexuality, is also framed in physical terms, as in his literal death in the film’s penultimate scene, or the younger physicist’s bespectacled and unshaven appearance, akin to a figurative shortsightedness and troglodytism. The dichotomy of heterosexuality and homosexuality, existing in tandem as a complete set of the same spectrum, is a truth of harmony that is only disrupted by an imposition of priority, of one over the other.
Although a great vehicle for the consideration of all variety of transformation, “Hirsute” is at its most accessible and fun when viewed with the simplicity of a curiosity of story. Beautifully complemented by minimalist art direction and striking set pieces, the film carries a futuristic sheen that is at once just beyond our reach and right where we are at this place and time: a remarkable feat of timelessness.