When I saw that this short film was set at the Bull statue on Wall Street, I assumed that it must be a rather topical piece that would focus on those in that area that strive for wealth and power but do not feed their souls or focus on things such as family or love. Perhaps this would have been too obvious because instead the film uses the sonnet in a much more comical and romantic way that I took it when I read it. In the film a bald, sort mustachioed man confronts a thin young woman who is applying her make-up – he talks to her about the outward efforts that she expends and seems to implore her to look beyond that, not just in herself (as I took the sonnet to mean) but perhaps also in him.
Although it twisted what I understood the sonnet to mean, I actually liked how the film did this as it made me think about the material but also effectively delivered it, with a presentation that establishes context and meaning that I didn't think of originally. The use of the location is perhaps not the best since the Bull is only in the background and, as anyone who has ever been there knows, to try and get a single frame picture of it not surrounded by people is difficult, and accordingly there are lots of people looking at the camera. The film cuts around them but even the final shot seems to have a guy who suddenly realizes he is in shot and tries to duck against a wall to get out the way!
The actual delivery other than this is fun. Rosner is not a pretty man and he uses this well to add to the comic air; his delivery of the sonnet is really good, adding emphasis and facial expression well to make it fit the meaning that the film is looking for. Although her role is simpler, I thought Lesage did a pretty decent job with her interaction and reaction. Although it was not what I expected, it is a comic and enjoyable short film which made me look again at the sonnet in the different tones and ways in which it could be taken.
Although it twisted what I understood the sonnet to mean, I actually liked how the film did this as it made me think about the material but also effectively delivered it, with a presentation that establishes context and meaning that I didn't think of originally. The use of the location is perhaps not the best since the Bull is only in the background and, as anyone who has ever been there knows, to try and get a single frame picture of it not surrounded by people is difficult, and accordingly there are lots of people looking at the camera. The film cuts around them but even the final shot seems to have a guy who suddenly realizes he is in shot and tries to duck against a wall to get out the way!
The actual delivery other than this is fun. Rosner is not a pretty man and he uses this well to add to the comic air; his delivery of the sonnet is really good, adding emphasis and facial expression well to make it fit the meaning that the film is looking for. Although her role is simpler, I thought Lesage did a pretty decent job with her interaction and reaction. Although it was not what I expected, it is a comic and enjoyable short film which made me look again at the sonnet in the different tones and ways in which it could be taken.