TITANO! is a Magical Short Film Inspired by Old School Monster Movies
I grew up watching all kinds of horror movies, and many of my favorites were the old-school black and white monster movies that the studios produced between the 1930s and 1950s. If you love watching those kinds of movies as well, you have to watch this fantastic short film called Titano! since it was inspired by those classics.
An old man looks up at a faded movie poster and remembers a time when the world knew him as the terrifying monster TITANO, star of a dozen old films. What he doesn’t know is that once the sun goes down, he will have one last opportunity to give the performance of a lifetime and deliver a scare that will never be forgotten!
The short was directed by Ben Chavda, and it stars veteran genre actor Irwin Keyes. He gives a colossal performance! The emotion and feeling that he radiates to the audience is stunning, and he does this without speaking a single word. I was really moved by his performance.
io9 had the opportunity to get an interview with the director, in which he explains:
“I wanted to write a love letter to all those great character actors who’ve touched our lives, if just for a moment.”
When talking about the character and the process of bringing him to life for the film, he said:
“Titano was a silent character, you had to see him and immediately empathize with him, feel his every sigh, every look, react to a completely physical performance. Not only that, but at the end of the movie you had to buy that this sweet big guy could also be scary.”
As you’ll see, Keyes was the perfect actor to take on the role, and he should be recognized for his monumental work in this movie. Keyes passed away not long after the film completed shooting, and I have to say it was one helluva brilliant final performance. This short is a beautiful tribute to the actor.
“He hadn’t gotten world-famous, he hadn’t won an Oscar, he hadn’t made millions of dollars. But he was an actor who you could build a silent movie off of. Even though he spoke no words, you knew what his character was thinking – and more importantly feeling – at every moment in the film. You were with him at every step, feeling for him, rooting for him. To me, that’s a movie star. We were all saddened by his passing, and that he never got to see the film’s release. And yet it’s so wonderful to be seeing reactions from people who are remembering all his wonderful character work, and who are so touched by his performance in this film. I like to think that Irwin would smile at the cosmic coincidence of it all.”
I hope that you all take the time to enjoy Titano!