Circus of Infinity

I was in Seattle over the summer and saw this film at the Seattle International Film Festival. It was awesome. The set, costumes and lights were beautiful and the story was unique. The film is only 10 minutes but a lot happens in a short time. I think the message of the film was either that we're all just here as entertainment for God or that if entertaining God and his entourage is all their is, perhaps that is good enough. I might be giving too much away. Most of the acting was great too, especially the guy playing God and the guy that played the Ringmaster and the Janitor guy. The guy that played God used to play Les Nessman on WKRP In Cincinatti. I felt compelled to write because I saw another Von Piglet Sisters movie that I liked a lot too; Gory Gory Halleluiah. See my comments on that if you get a chance.

I am sorry to say that I saw this short film at its premier at Seattle International Film Festival's Fly Film-making challenge. I am sorry, because it is perhaps the worst film I ever saw. Maybe I'm just not intelligent enough to discern the deeper meanings, but somehow I doubt that. I'm college educated, know my metaphors, and read my poetry. The movie was a disgrace in comparison to the other two shorts shown at the same time -- and that were under the same constraints. Watching this one might be worthwhile if you like the artsy-fartsy stuff, but not if you also respect yourself. Its not even worth the 5 minutes out of your life it would take to watch it on fast forward.

I was thrilled to be sitting in the full theater to see the 3 short films for the Seattle International Film Festival and was blown away when the screen came alive with color and crazy music and people having fun up on the screen. Even though Circus of Infinity was only 10 minutes long the images and the message it conveyed to me lives in my head to this day. The other movies that were part of this project were really great too, but I think that the other directors took most of the requirements for the project too literally, where Sue was able to add her own twist. For example each film had to have someone "trip" somewhere in the short, and in each short flick we saw someone stumble and trip, BUT in Sues movie, she had a girl actually "tripping" and I loved how she took a literal statement and put her creativity into it. I was entertained from beginning to end.I think Sue is an amazing artist with a creative personality and one of the best directors in the business. I can't wait to see her next project and feel her message pulse threw my head over and over and over again. I loved this short, and would recommend to ALL.

Director Sue Corcoran is to be commended for this pithy and comic telling of the "birth to death" scenario. She and a brilliantly costumed and detailed group of actors seem to have great fun with this romp but there is a punch-in-the-stomach element as well to remind us all of the circus we inhabit. A quick search on this database also finds Corcoran responsible for "Gory Gory Hallelujah", a full-length feature again with cast of thousands, all brilliantly festooned. Ms. Corcoran has a a true gift when it comes to revelations through wild story telling. One imagines a female Ed Wood but with actual talent who probably looks pretty good in an Angora sweater. She also has a knack for using actors well. Some of the same actors appear in both films mentioned here and are worth the price of admission.

"Circus of Infinity" swept me off my feet. Director Sue Corcoran's unique cinematic voice is bell clear from the first frame. A bustling pleasure for the senses, "Circus of Infinity" shuttles us between the bright lights and the raucous show of a big top circus to the golden nest of heaven, making many stops in between. What intrigued me most about "Circus of Infinity" is how its seemingly pessimistic view of the cycle of life was strangely uplifting in the end. I think much of this beautiful struggle (ex. "brash vs gentle" or "hardknock life vs loving family") is due to Corcoran's knack for shooting bizarre, freakish scenes with a keenly compassionate eye. So that we, the audience, get a strange new world but we're never fully alienated because it always resonates deeply on an emotional level.