Watch: Colossal Director’s Crazy Oscar-Nominated Short Film

7:35 in the Morning ( 7:35 de la Mañana)
Director: Nacho Vigalondo

In light of Nacho Vigalondo’s highly-anticipated monster/romantic-comedy mashup film “Colossal”, here’s a look back at one of the director’s earlier work – a short film called 7:35 in the Morning (7:35 de la Mañana).

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The film shows a woman entering a coffee shop, going through her usual morning routine, when she notices all of the shop’s patrons and staff acting oddly. A strange man (played by Vigalondo) then bursts onto the scene professing his love for the woman through song while everyone else uncomfortably follows his lead in an awkwardly and clumsily choreographed musical number. Belying the sweet, romantic gesture is the woman’s horrified recognition that these people are being held as the singing man’s hostages, forced against their will to carry out this performance with him.

After experimenting with video, Vigalondo transitioned over to film with this ambitious 8 minute, black and white short, which was shot on 35mm for $25,000 near his old apartment in Madrid. 7:35 in the Morning went on to collect several prestigious awards during its festival run, and was eventually nominated for an Academy Award for best live-action short in 2004.

One can already see Vigalondo’s flair for subversion as the short cleverly deconstructs the romantic comedy and musical genres by setting up the conditions of what it would be realistically like for a love-struck individual to pursue the girl of his dreams in a film-inspired fashion. If you’ve ever wished for your life to be like a musical, 7:35 in the Morning shows just how hilarious and horrifying it can be.