Going Long On Shorts, et al
"The Quality of Mercy"
To many this is quickly recognized as the soliloquy [1] delivered by Portia [2] in Shakespeareís The Merchant Of Venice [3]. To others it might bring to mind the title of an Episode of WBís Babylon 5 [4] series . Faye Kellerman has a book [5] out with this as the title, as does W.D Howell [6].
The speech is also the title of a short film by director Stephen Marro [7]. It stars Mary-Louise Parker [8] and Jon Avner [9]. Go see it!
Jon and I are old friends. We both attended a very strange school, from Grade 5 through High School graduation. Through the years we have managed to stay in touch, despite geographic and other distances. Jon was the last of the holdout bachelors until a few years ago. My children attended the wedding with me, and it was a blast! When they were younger they always referred to him as ìJon The Actor.î Jonís family has a place by a lake in The Berkshires, and we managed to visit him around 4th of July for a number of years. Jon always had some fireworks, and a powerboat, so this was, as you can imagine, a big delight for the kids. Well, yeah, for me, too.
Last year in December I received an e-mail from Jon regarding a showing in New York of this Short Film he was in, The Quality Of Mercy. It was part of the Avignon Film Festival [10]. We checked our schedules, saw that we could make the April 11th showing, and plans were made. Weíd hoped to see it with Jon, but his acting business (he has a company that produces Murder Mysteries; they do it at Dinner Theatres, parties, cruises, special events, etc.) had him busy that night.
Iíd only seen Jon on screen in small roles. Every here and there I notice him in a print ad, a commercial, or I recognize his voice over on the occasional radio spot. In our e-mail volley heíd told me that he thought he was okay, and that Mary-Louise Parker was excellent in this short. Jon had done the role when it was a one-act play at the Manhattan Theatre Club; Mary-Louise Parker did it as a favor to a friend (the screenwriter, I believe) while she was in her Tony Award-Best Actress-winning stint, on Broadway, starring in Proof.
Well, modesty, of all things, found itself in Jon when he and I exchanged e-mails. Yes, she is quite good in the film. But Jon is excellent. And this is my old buddy of many, many years. I cut him no slack! We know each other too long to stand on such silly protocol.
Jon is superb in this short film. He acts with his eyes, almost from the get-go, and that establishes the character. It isnít a very physical role, and the crux of the short is the dialogue. Parkerís finale requires some very gifted acting, which may be what so awed Jon when we spoke. But he is so good in this, it makes me wonder why a guy like him, so well known in the NY theatre world, hasnít broken through to more acclaim, roles of more Èclat.
The Quality Of Mercy was such a delight, we wished theyíd shown it a second time. Stephen Marro, the director, fielded some Q&A after the screening. The screenwriter (original playwright) and the team that did the music was also in attendance. If Jon had also been there it would have been that much better. After seeing this little film, we felt weíd already gotten our moneyís worth from attending this one night of screenings at the Avignon Festival.
And then it got even better!
PAS SI GRAVE (Not So Serious)
After showing The Quality of Mercy the next film on the bill that evening was Pas Si Grave [11], a French Film by Director Bernard Rapp featuring the Chilean-French actress Leonor Verela. This film was released in France in March of this year, and has yet to go into worldwide distribution. Hereís a tip to film lovers: donít miss this one! Pas Si Grave (Not So Serious) is among the best films Iíve seen in ages. This from a major movie fan, consumer, viewer, whatever. I am an IFC/Sundance addict (I also take in a lot of AMC and TMC).
Bottom line: Pas Si Grave is the best film I've seen in years. Even with the white subtitles (sometimes difficult to read, my only complaint about the film) this film is excellent. If there's a foreign film festival near you, or a theatre that shows French film, inform them of this one. Not a film to miss. Great story, excellent acting, superb cast, cinematography and music. What more could one ask?!
DvD Features
Often I rent DvDs just to see the features with the directorís comments. Rent Sunshine State [12] by John Sayles [13], and watch his comments. Wow, it will make a good film even better.
Same with Igby Goes Down [14], the movie [15] that starred the Culkin kid who actually can act (Keiran, although younger brother Rory Culkin is good as the younger version of Igby). Bill Pullman [16] has minimal screen time, yet his few scenes are so power-packed, his acting so strong, that he nearly steals the film. The Director/Actor comments on the DvD feature are very interesting, adding all sorts of insight into the movie, the story, the back-story, sub-plots, and so forth. The writer/director is Burr Steers [17], a name new to me. Go rent it. Watch the film, then watch the features on the DvD. Well worth it.
More On Shorts
I mentioned in the last post that Insomniaís best friend is IFC. Sundance [18], too. These are the places to catch Short Films on the tube. Many film festivals feature them, have competitions, et al, but it is hard for the Average Jane or Joe to see, much less become aware of, Short Films. Many years ago HBO would show shorts, to fill in the time so full-length features would begin on the hour or half-hour. That is long gone, replaced with endless promos.
Sundance was recently running another excellent short film: Barrier Device [19], by Writer/Director Grace Lee [20].
Side note: on Grace Lee's site [21] she has a wonderful piece about her name, and a program to unite all the Grace Lees [22]of the world.
These shorts, as is apropos, seem to have a short run-life on Sundance and IFC. Maybe at some time there will be a Short Films Channel (ìSFCî) on the dish, too.
Barrier Device is a half hour film. The acting, as in my friend Jonís short, is excellent. Sandra Oh (thatís her pictured on the left, as Rita Wu from Arliss on HBO) has the lead role. Sandra Oh has done a lot of comic roles, and she is a tremendous comic actress. She seems to understand restraint, and that makes for better comic acting. In Barrier Device, the role is wholly dramatic. Her co-star is Suzy Nakamura, best known for her role as Sam's Secretary, Kathy on NBCís The West Wing.
This film is so well written that the 28 minutes seems to pack a full-length filmís story into a short time. One might hope Grace Lee would expand this, keep the two stars in their roles, and make either a follow up or a more extensive, thorough version of this excellent film.
Two Bloggers Lunch Cuban
Doc Searls [23] was back in town this past week, a man on a mission. Iíd mentioned that he and I were looking to get together, if time and circumstance would allow. Turns out I had a meeting scheduled at an office in lower Manhattan, in the building next door to where Doc had a meeting the same day. Some might call this convergence. Actually, Doc and I discussed convergence, how to make RSS work on this blog, and some interesting family stuff, too, over lunch. This time we actually didnít go to Katzís. Instead, we went around the corner from the two office buildings, and ate at Sophieís Cuban [24], a nice little only-in-New York kinda joint. Why, you might wonder, is the picture to the right accompanying this? I leave that to Doc to answer. Hint: the answer is in his ever-present digital camera.
BABOON CORRECTION
My son points out that while Deanland may be a blog, I mistakenly referred to his website as a blog in the May 27th post. Well shame on me, and he is, in fact, correct in this observation. There have been some blog-like news items, but it is actually an interactive dot-com sort of web site. So check out JumpingBaboon.com [25] and see for yourself the difference!