I saw Julia Duncan's short film debut last year when it premiered in Los Angeles. Since most of these short film events are very disappointing, my expectations were very low and I simply went to support some of my friends who starred in it. I was in for a big surprise. The writing was witty, Duncan put together a great ensemble who she finely directed and played the main character very convincingly.
The film is about the absurdity of dating in your twenties. Being encouraged by her girlfriends, the main character Sarah sets out to find a new man in her life. This doesn't seem to be an easy task in LA, where men are weird and gross and cheap. These dating scenes are the center piece of the film and absurdly hilarious. The actors for each date are well chosen and the dialogue is splendid. This is the absolute strong side of Duncan's work. The weakest part is the aesthetics. Most of the sets weren't very pretty or stylised, which is OK because it adds to the realism of the film, but the light set up wasn't very pleasing and diminished the beauty of the film. I'm well aware that this was a very low budget production and it might therefore be forgiven.
Overall this was one of my favourite short films I've seen in 2013 and I have an immense respect for what Julia Duncan put together. Her writing, directing, starring triptych surely reminds us of Lena Dunham and the film has the charm, humour and pace of a Nicole Holofcener movie. I sincerely hope Duncan will follow into the footsteps of these two great cinematic women.
The film is about the absurdity of dating in your twenties. Being encouraged by her girlfriends, the main character Sarah sets out to find a new man in her life. This doesn't seem to be an easy task in LA, where men are weird and gross and cheap. These dating scenes are the center piece of the film and absurdly hilarious. The actors for each date are well chosen and the dialogue is splendid. This is the absolute strong side of Duncan's work. The weakest part is the aesthetics. Most of the sets weren't very pretty or stylised, which is OK because it adds to the realism of the film, but the light set up wasn't very pleasing and diminished the beauty of the film. I'm well aware that this was a very low budget production and it might therefore be forgiven.
Overall this was one of my favourite short films I've seen in 2013 and I have an immense respect for what Julia Duncan put together. Her writing, directing, starring triptych surely reminds us of Lena Dunham and the film has the charm, humour and pace of a Nicole Holofcener movie. I sincerely hope Duncan will follow into the footsteps of these two great cinematic women.
