Nominated by me for best pitch black comedy of 2013, because I run the awards show with an iron fist and a titanium erection.
It's constant.
If I said "Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim" to you, you'd probably think of things like Awesome Show Great Job, or Check it Out with Steve Brule, or their movie. I would wager that a very select few, connoisseurs perhaps, but a small group nonetheless, would think of The Comedy. That's because this isn't Tim and Eric.
Well, it is, but it's not...fuck, you know what I mean.
It's unfair to call this film simply by that name alone, and rarely does one cross paths with a piece that succeeds where The Comedy manages to do so. The phenomenon of multiple experiences is more prevalent in dark comedy, which is why I flock to it like a hornet with a pollination fetish (get it? ...Because he wants to get all up in that business twice as hard as the average spore-carrying insect), and while I'm rarely disappointed, being pleased with the time spent and being blown away by what you spent it on are two things entirely separate.
Tim Heidecker plays a character who, with his group of like-minded friends, lives in a world that would be so horribly depressing if they were to halt and take it seriously for more than five minutes. They make light of their surroundings, attempting to carelessly glide through existence as if it were a constant show.
That synopsis is too optimistic.
Instead of 'film,' this cinematic masterpiece could be more descriptively characterized as "a series of snippets depicting the life and interactions of a group." These interactions are frequently heartfelt, full of jest and a sort of oxymoronic heavy lightheartedness. This is comedy for the self-loathing and sorrowful. In short, it's beautiful, and I would never go back.
This is probably the first film I've seen that so seamlessly tethers such heavy-handed depression, improvisational humour, love, loss, loneliness, impulse, ecstasy and terror. It's important that one doesn't try to determine what they're getting into until they're too far in to return. Only when you're balls deep in this molasses, can you achieve any understanding of why.
There is no erring on the side of caution. Everything is turned up to 11, thrust forward head-first in roller coaster fashion. It travels quickly between curiosities, sometimes even dipping into pure horror.
I think a fair-sized portion of the reason why The Comedy is so effective has to do with its relatability, and its realism. There wasn't a time, through the whole movie, where I couldn't imagine it really happening. Each interaction is tangible; the atmosphere that the movie creates comes right out and joins the viewer.
If I had to summarize these paragraphs, it would be as such; The Comedy reproduces a wide variance of emotions, and I was glad to be there for all of them. It's self-indulgent and self-deprecating.
I love it.
No comments:
Post a Comment