P-Word Pizza
by Krystie Maddox-Lue
Let me start this review by stating honestly that, most dark comedies don’t interest me. I mean, I’ve never been a fan of IN BRUGES or A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, not that there’s anything wrong with these films, they’re both masterpieces, it’s simply that they never particularly appealed to me. As this short is a dark comedy, therefore, you’ll forgive me if I don’t seem overly enthused; I will, of course, try to be diplomatic.
“A negative judgement gives you more satisfaction than praise, provided it smacks of jealousy.”
Interestingly enough, this is the quote shown at the start of the film; that’s just before the flowery, line, transition-y thing, and stock footage of what looks like New York, but could actually be any city in America (probably the effect that Sabel was after). If I sound confused, it’s probably because I am. You see, having seen all this, I wasn’t entirely sure what feel this film was going for, the quote puts me in mind of an old Laurel and Hardy sketch, the transition thing of a kitschy student film, and the stock footage of a 70’s cop show.
It’s at this point that we’re introduced to the protagonist of the piece, a long-haired, pizza delivery guy, whose name we never learn but whose aspiration is obviously to be a gangster of some description. In England we’d call him a ‘chav’, in America, you might just call him an ass. Whichever, it’s surprisingly easy to grow sort of fond of this bumbling character, as he navigates his way through the impressive hallways and rooms of the luxurious corporate building, looking around with a kind of bright-eyed wonder.
It’s when he finally reaches the source of his delivery that the above quote becomes relevant. Upon paying him for his services (and then some) one of the groups of serious-looking, Asian, businessmen tell him pointedly: “You can go now... take the money and get out.” However, bowled over by both his surroundings and hefty tip, the pizza delivery guy stays to compliment the men on their office and, without meaning to, insults them during his rambles.
This, of course, doesn’t exactly ingratiate him to the men, who then seem to decide to have some fun at his expense, questioning his sexuality and laughing at his ‘gangster’ dress sense. Though at first left slightly bemused by the men, after a while it becomes apparent to the delivery guy that their interest in him is to laugh at his expense, and so becoming irritated, he takes one of the pizzas and leaves. One of the men then tries to get the conversation back onto the topic of discussion before they were interrupted; a ‘prostitution ring’ they run. This, of course, reinforces our growing suspicion that these businessmen are in fact gangsters. Irony alert!
The plotline of the film is actually quite good, despite my dislike of dark comedy I find this quite entertaining, and actually quite amusing. However, I’m not quite sure of the differences of lighting and exposures.
The gangsters appear to be in a clinically clean office, in fact, they themselves seem to be whitewashed and cold, however the delivery guy is shown in a much warmer lighting. I’m not sure what purpose this serves, unless it’s to show the differences between their characters - the gangsters are clean-cut and clinical, whereas the delivery guy is soft, and a bit of an idiot – but the editing to show this is rather clumsily done, and personally I find it quite distracting, which is a shame.
I have no ideas what the overexposed bit at the end is meant to signify, nor can I offer any explanation, of that or the picture of the snake with the caption: “Capturing the human condition.” Perhaps it’s a comment on the character of the gangsters themselves, who knows?
All in all, not a bad effort. Of course, it’s not as sleek as some shorts, or even as it could be, but it’s good enough for a first, second, or even third attempt. I won’t put it down too much, because I don’t think that’s called for, but I doubt this would win any festivals.
