David Michod’s Sweet and Sad Stampy

By Tara Kenny / February 21st, 2012 in Film / Australia / 412 views

The premise of Animal Kingdom director David Michôd’s short Netherland Dwarf is simple: “Harry really wants a rabbit. Harry’s dad really wants his wife back. And somehow, in the middle of all this wanting, they both seemed to have forgotten that they already have each other.”

When actualised, this simple suburban formula is at once charming, heartbreaking and at times so awkward it makes you cringe with all the burning embarrassment of a child watching your Dad ask the babysitter if she “wants to come around for dinner sometime…?”

The emotional resonance of Netherland Dwarf lies in the universal relevance of the familial struggles at its core. With his sweet attentiveness and single-minded desire to own Stampy, the floppy eared bunny, Jack Egan as Harry takes the viewer back to a time when whether to invest in a Hollilop or Netherland dwarf breed of rabbit was easily the most important decision of your lifetime. Harry’s mini drama plays out alongside his father’s painful struggle to raise his child as a single parent whilst attempting to avoid the internal breakdown which appears to be erring closer with every minute of the film, with this growing emotional tension juxtaposed by the stifling monotony of the domestic environment.

Michôd aimed to create both an ode to his childhood rabbit Stampy and something that was simultaneously “simple, sad, sweet and beautiful”, apparently still not sure whether he succeeded in doing so, despite the film’s critical acclaim. Boasting Best Short Drama Award at the prestigious Aspen International Shortsfest and Best Australian Short Film at Flickerfest, Netherland Dwarf is testament to the fact that like Stampy himself, beautiful things come in small packages.