Jim Allison’s Fools, Gold is a witty cinematic snippet that’s as disarming as it is well-made. Working with two actors and a semblance of a plot that amounts to a visual gag, Allison – who writes, edits, co-produces, in addition to being the VFX Artist and Art Director – purposefully doesn’t aim for the sky, instead focusing on making a well-made, charming little piece about greed and mortality.
The nameless, leathery Prospector (Keith Rajala) sifts through sand in a creek, in search of gold. Something catches his eye – a giant, shiny boulder of the much-coveted metal. Elated, the old man carries it, until he loses his footing and plummets off a cliff. Much to his surprise, the Prospector wakes up to the sight of Death (Christian Svizzero, voiced by Raymond Pental), replete with black cloak and scythe. Normally, one would cower in fear or run, but the hero is a fool. He doesn’t recognize the entity before him. Instead, he questions its motives, eventually suspecting that it’s a thief, bent on stealing his gold.
“So you sell snake oil, is that it?” the Prospector, who’s suddenly grown suspicious, asks Death. “I am the collector of souls,” Death replies in a menacing growl. The Prospector seems unaffected. “Uh-huh,” he says. This deadpan approach, the dichotomy between the fool’s cluelessness and Death’s grandiosity, is what makes the short tick. It’s all goofy fun, and it was clearly intended as such. John Frothingham’s cinematography captures the rugged spirit of a classic Western, while Aaron Burnham’s banjo score complements the narrative.
Rajala makes for a fine prospector, looking like he was born in that cowboy hat. Svizzero and Pental deserve special props for making Death so animated, their physical and vocal reactions to the Prospector’s stupidity well-timed. Together with the multi-tasking filmmaker, they manage to tickle the funny bone, while transporting the viewer to an oddly familiar place of yore, all within four minutes. No small feat.
