|
|
 |
 Sometimes bad things happen in life that you just don’t want to discuss with anyone. It’s often easier to internalize the event and try to get past it, and a lot of times this works out pretty well as a coping mechanism. Not much need to see a shrink about how you stubbed your toe the other day. But sometimes something so traumatic happens that if you don’t talk about it, you never get past it, and the pain just simmers in the background, waiting to bubble up and explode out of you at any point. It’s this process of emotional catharsis that forms the basis of Lindsey Shockley’s short film, The Truth About Faces.
Shot in one continuous take, this film shows the seemingly normal and commonplace event of a mother and daughter shopping for clothes together. We soon discover that Jules, the daughter (Hanna Hall – “Young Jenny” of Forrest Gump fame), is moving away to Africa, and right off the bat we can tell that her mother, Patricia (Julie Pop) isn’t too thrilled about it. Not that any mother would be thrilled about her daughter going halfway across the world, but we start to see that Patricia is a little more freaked out about this prospect than she probably should be. As the film unfolds we’re shown bits of information that hint at a bigger issue at hand, until a chance meeting with someone from their past leads to an unavoidable confrontation with long-dormant emotions.
Content
Being a guy, I’m not a big fan of the Lifetime variety of chick flicks, where the film is obviously trying to press the emotional buttons of the audience in very cheap and clichéd ways. A music swell here, a choked up tear there, and bam, there’s not a dry eye in the house. I see this as the emotional equivalent of a Michael Bay film; all flash, no substance. So it was with quite a bit of trepidation that I sat down to watch Lindsey Shockley’s short film, The Truth About Faces. The DVD box features two women, they’re hugging on the back cover, and there’s some description of “tragedy” in the summary, so I’m thinking I’m in for Lifetime material here. But Shockley goes for the exact opposite effect by tactfully withholding information and subtly dropping clues about the emotional states of the characters, instead of beating us over the head with it. It’s really not until the very end of the film that we figure out exactly what is going on, and when the tears come, they’re understated, well-earned, and feel very genuine and true to life.
Since Pop and Hall are the only major characters, they’re forced to carry all of the weight of the film, and they pull this off very well. I thought Pop was spot-on perfect as the emotionally fragile mother who is struggling between supporting her daughter’s hopes and dreams, and trying to keep her sheltered and safe from harm. It’s an honest performance without a hint of the kind of actor-ish affectations I often see in indie dramas. Hall is also quite good as the daughter, even though the script doesn’t give her quite as much to work with. While I thought she occasionally portrayed the character as a bit young for her suggested age, she still had the acting chops to hold her own with Pop. Tamlin Hall also deserves a special mention for his ability to look extremely uncomfortable in his brief role as the catalyst for the film’s climax, and you can almost feel yourself squirm along with him.
|
|
|
|
