Clown Face

Despite the absurdity of the father having on clown make-up, this is actually a pretty straight and enjoyable short film. It focuses on two characters, and creates and presents them in a way that is engaging and entertaining. It doesn't really have a story, so much as focus on these two characters interacting. The father is post- mid-life crisis, where he left his wife, bought a second-hand Porsche, and made many other stupid mistakes. The daughter is an adult who is reluctant to humor her father as he now wallows in his regret and looks for something to cling to.

If it sounds pretty dark, it is but also it isn't. The scene is convincing, and the two performances bring years of these people into these few moments in a way where you believe them and understand what is behind any specific statement or reaction. It is very smart and well done. The slightly comical edge is brought in by the specific patheticness of the father, and the absurdity of the clown face. The details of his collapse are very easy to believe due to them being such a cliché but yet seeming real by his delivery. It is not laugh out loud funny, but it does blend the comical with the real characters to make for a great scene which satisfies as a short film.

It could be a parable or a bitter comedy or just slice from a biography . But , more important, it is its impeccable construction. The dialogue, the picture of vulnerabilities, the clash of final, the excuses and the maturity of daughter, the feeling to see a theater play in which the reverberation of near reality is the lead virtue. A beautiful drama who seems so familiar.