Death to the Tinman: How the Tinman Became a Metal-Man Without a Heart

“Death to the Tinman” premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, where it received an Honorable Mention for Best Short Film. In addition, “Death to the Tinman” won the Best Short Film Award at the 2007 Savannah Film Festival; the film has also played at the South by Southwest Film Festival and the New York Film Festival, among others. The film’s Director is Ray Tintori, a 26-year-old filmmaker from Brooklyn (NY), who also directs music videos for various music groups, such as MGMT. Tintori is a member of the Court 13 film collective, which is an acclaimed ensemble group of collaborative filmmakers and performers.

The mythical “Death to the Tinman” presents a visual narrative that swells from the unfathomable depths of human tragedy, to the achievement of a renewed capacity for a sense of love and hope. “Death to the Tinman” is an adaptation of the original story of the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz series, in which Tintori’s version of the Tin Man is transformed from a human lumberjack to a metal man without a heart. Tintori transported the story’s basic foundation for the original Tin Man story to a surreal, rural 1940s South, replacing Oz magic with evangelical mysticism. Pastors, congregations and The Rapture take the place of flying monkeys and witches melting upon contact with water.

Watching Ray Tintori’s “Death to the Tinman” for the first time, one can feel somewhat shocked by the experience of realizing that what you’re watching is a remarkable breakthrough short film. Tintori’s modern transformation of the original story about how the Tinman came to be the Tinman was created in a way that conveys an underlying emotional tone progressing from the chaotic, to the quirky, to the profoundly poignant.

If you haven’t seen any of Ray Tintori’s works yet, I would highly recommend that you take twelve-minutes to watch “Death to the Tinman.” It’s a small investment for a big profit.

This piece presents a number of great photographs from the film and the acclaimed short film, “Death to the Tinman.” In addition, it includes a wonderful gallery of photographs from the film.