Although the narrator seems to be talking about a monster in the film’s short introduction, the lighthouse crab in fact seems very friendly when he appears on the screen. While most of his body is submerged, the lighthouse perched on his back serves to attract boats. Once they arrive, the creature hastily drags them down to the depths in order to add them to his precious underwater collection. But he is no bloodthirsty beast, instead the lighthouse crab is a metaphor for the power of nature, which absolutely must be preserved as well as feared, since it guarantees balance. Visually the film plays with the contrasts between peaceful nature and the perils of mass tourism, and between the visible and the invisible. To this end, the screen is split in two so that we can see both the submerged part (the crab and his boat collection) and above the water (the human constructions on the creature’s back). Thus the monster alluded to in the beginning in fact becomes the victim, for so long silent, of human folly. The two worlds are opposites of each other both aesthetically and graphically: the one on the surface is depicted with simple, cubic forms, while the underwater world is far more realistic. The film approaches the issue of environment protection with plenty of humour and prompts viewers to ask: who is the real monster here? The film’s conclusion also serves a reminder that nature is more powerful than everything, and man will not win this clash.
The 3D animation is brilliantly done, conferring a poetic quality on the underwater world. The music is very evocative, with a slightly slapstick touch at times, and complements the pictures very nicely, creating an amusing and effective overall work. This short film is a lovely way both to showcase natural wonders and to open a discussion.
