There was a time in all of us where we viewed the older generation as mysterious masters of the world around them. When I was young I had a wart on my hand that no doctor could get rid of and my grandfather recommended rubbing a steak on it and burying the steak in the ground. He told me that by the time the steak was gone, so would my wart. At the time I thought that was one of the most magical things I had ever heard, but as we grow older we realize the world is far more mundane.  The Cunning Man, however, shows us that there may be some old world magic out there and we just don’t know it.

On a dirt road in the countryside of Europe the “knackerman”, who’s job is to collect dead animals, spots an old farmer walking with a dead dog in his arms. After collecting a few more dead animals the farmer, Afran Harries, heads to the local pub where he is told off by the knackerman for bring in a sack of dead animals into the drinking establishment. The Knackerman proceeds to call the local health inspector to inform him that Afran has been collecting dead animals. While inspecting Afran’s residence/ workplace it is discovered that he has a pile of dead animals, including sheep, chickens, hogs, and the dog, in his barn. The inspector warns Afran that he could give him a fine or close him down for the bodies but he will give him until morning to get them ready for the knackerman.

What sets The Cunning Man apart from almost anything I have seen is a total sense of magic in this clearly mundane world. How Afran is framed in this world is how you would see a real wizard portrayed in a fantasy world. He is silent through nearly the whole film and just stares on at each person who starts to scold him, with a look that he knows more than they ever will. We find out later that the health inspector is a friend of the knackerman and they plan to profit off of picking up Afran’s animal pile. The short in a way portrays the young and arrogant as nothing more than selfish children while Afran in his ancient knowledge as selfless and heartfelt. The Cunning Man is a beautifully well crafted short that can make us wonder if we are losing a small bit of magic in the world by focusing on ourselves and the future.