Kill the Director

It's been a long time since I've seen this, maybe 8-10 years or so, but it was on PBS when I was recording a bunch of stuff and I ended up with it on tape when I was in college. My roommate and I loved this movie, my roommate especially thought it was quite brilliant.

This is a 20+ minute mockumentary where an unseen and unheard high school kid does a documentary on a relative of his who is directing a short film for film school. Of course the director has all his friends and classmates along as crew. The film he's making seemingly and subtly is pointed out as being based on his own romantic experience and is almost him stroking his own ego without creating a meaningful story. All of it is incorporated nicely into the film and characters.

I particularly enjoyed the performance of the director's girlfriend, the cute, bespectacled and loyal lackey. She was hilarious. The director is equally hilarious, almost in an "The Office" kind of way. In fact, you could say this is a lot like The Office in style, especially with the strong character performances, the odd situations, and even the prankster and immature nature of some of the side characters. But back to the director, he's a cocky and optimistic type, just like lots and lots of film students seem to be. This film is almost an expose/parody in the world of film school, kind of like Art School Confidential. The stereotypical wannabes in film school, the wannabe actors, pathetic directors, etc., it's all there in a short and succinct film. You totally believe these are real film students trying to get along with a real student director.

The movie climaxes wonderfully. The whole situation the director ends up in and what eventually happens at the end are all really funny.

I wish this movie were more famous, it deserves to be. It's just brilliant.