Duplass Brothers- Short Films

Once in awhile I come across films that completely fly under the radar of mass-market film criticism. The Duplass Brothers made a couple of short films before their future debut “The Puffy Chair,” the best film of 2006 that was little seen or spoken about. Short films are usually ignored by critics and scholars alike (also myself), but these are real gems that blend humor with insightful thoughts on human behavior. Don’t be fooled by the low budget digital presentation— these films are spectacular.

Jay Duplass’ use of frenetic zooming and blurred focus lends impressionistic hues to the narrative as if capturing fleeting, emotive moments. Also, his multi-perspective technique- best used in “Intervention”– fills the frame with varied facial expressions and gestures within a single composed shot. A lot of the reviews of their feature debut have been positive but are filled with back-handed compliments such as calling the film “simple.” Duplass’ visual style seems rather spontaneous and uncalculated but don’t be fooled. The pragmatic style's complexity stems from its insistence on performance, and the perceived ‘amateurish” camera work and editing adds layers to the emotions by highlighting shifting tones.

The acting is suburb as well, especially Kathryn Aselton in "Scrapple." Why hasn’t she been discovered yet? Her performance in “The Puffy Chair” is nothing short of amazing and resonate, eliciting thoughts of the varied mannerisms and altered emotional states exhibited by Gena Rowlands within single beats and scenes in her best work with John Cassavetes, especially “Faces.”

All the shorts deal with similar subject matters and reveal how we put on masks while avoiding conflicts and honesty. The Duplass' show the characters masks and slowly strip them away, revealing truths.

“This is John”
John (Mark Duplass) comes home and decides to change the message on his answering machine message.

“Scrapple”
Rick's (Mark Duplass) and Amy's (Kathryn Aselton) game of Scrabble turns into a scrap.

“Intervention”
A group of friends try to get a friend to admit some of his lies.

Check out their website for links to view the films, or go directly to atom films.

"The Puffy Chair" (I'll post a review soon) is available from Netflix
and available for sale on Jan 23rd.