A Year in Shorts Day 293: "Frank Film"

Full disclosure fellow Oscar Baiters- we got a weird one today. I'm talking weird weird. This might actually be the weirdest film we've looked at in our Year in Shorts. And we have looked at some weird films! But today's film, the 1973 Oscar-winning short Frank Film, might just be the height of surreal, experimental filmmaking. I haven’t the foggiest idea what it means. All I know is that I like it quite a bit. And I think you just might like it too!


(via TV Tropes)


Directed by Caroline and Frank Fouris (Frank, the titular Frank of Frank Film, also narrates the short), Frank Film is both fairly easy and incredibly difficult to summarize. There's no real plot to speak of her, with the core of the film being Frank reciting an autobiographical story while images from his magazine clippings collection provide some visual aid for what he's saying. (Frank Film's origins as a creative outlet for the director's random collection is one of the many things it has in common with the previous decade's Very Nice, Very Nice. It's probably safe to assume that that film had more than a small influence on this one, even if Very Nice, Very Nice was considerably easier to understand.) At the same time, Frank also recites a list of words, many of which start with the letter F. And... that's just about it. On paper, it doesn't sound like much. But a lot of films don't sound terribly exciting on paper when you get right down to it. It's the experience that matters. And Frank Film is an experience.



Look, Frank Film is definitely not an easy film to understand. And frankly, I'd argue it's a film where understanding it is beside the point. Sure, there's a narrative of sorts, but it's pretty clear that you're not expected to follow it. Instead, the Fourises simply want you to let this film wash over you in its own unique energy. It almost strikes me as a filmed attempt to try and recreate consciousness itself, with its central story being overwhelmed by connected words and images. Watching Frank Film reminds me a little of reading the works of Herman Koch, only on steroids. (Yes, I will find a way to try and sneak in the fact that I've read a couple of Herman Koch novels any chance I get.) It's not a technique that I think could sustain a feature, but in a short it works pretty well. I'll admit that Frank Film is not exactly the type of film that I go out of my way to watch (at the end of the day, I have pretty simple tastes and Frank Film is fairly highfalutin'), but I'm glad I did. Experimental cinema is certainly not for everyone; hell most of the time it's not for me. Still, it's important to expand your horizons and open your mind. You might be surprised by what you wind up enjoying!

I feel like I'm not really doing a great job at explaining this. Frank Film is another one of those films that's very hard to review, at least without getting overly technical or going into an excessive amount of detail on the filmmaking. I'll leave that sort of thing to the people who know better than I; for me, it's the experience of watching a film that matters most. The fact that I find it so hard to write about in this case is more of a testament to the film's success than it is my failings as a writer. (Or at least I hope that's the case.) Frank Film is one of those shorts you simply have to experience for yourself to understand, and I highly recommend it. The Academy Award for Best Animated Short went to a lot of experimental films in the 1970s, but none of them were anywhere near as bold as this. And very few of them were nearly as good.


Keep up with the Oscar Baiting here on Letterboxd!


The Great Oscar Baiter is a not-for-profit work of criticism. All images herein are property of their respective owners and are protected under Fair Use.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Song of the Week #15: "Take My Breath Away"

Image
I’ll put myself on a consistent schedule for these things one day, I promise. In my defense, there are a lot of movies to catch up on, and isn’t that what Oscar Baiting is all about? For instance- until recently, I’d never seen the original Top Gun! But with Top Gun: Maverick holding its spot as the biggest hit of the year (probably only to be dethroned by Black Panther or Avatar ) and even potentially soaring into the obligatory crowd pleaser Best Picture slot, I figured it was time to see where things began. Because while the Oscars Top Gun: Maverick may win have yet to be decided, the first Top Gun only went home with one- for the love theme, “Take My Breath Away.” (via Wikipedia) Love themes for films have gone a bit out of style these days, although for a long time it seemed to be a surefire way to nab a Best Song nomination. Seriously, look through the Wikipedia article and count how many times you see "Title Seemingly Chosen at Random (Love Theme from Movie You Didn...
Read more

Song of the Week #6: "The Ballad of High Noon"

Image
I was finally able to catch Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast this weekend, and I have to say it certainly lived up to the hype. There’s a lot to love about this movie, from the gorgeous black-and-white cinematography, the exquisite performances from both the seasoned veterans and newcomers in the cast, to a script that’s brimming with heart and humor. But one aspect of the film I don’t see a lot of people mention is the way it incorporates footage from other films- most notably Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon, using not only a scene from the movie itself but scoring two pivotal scenes with the film’s theme song, the aptly-named (and Oscar-winning) “The Ballad of High Noon.” It was a bold choice to be sure, but who could blame Branagh? It’s a great movie, and a great song- and the subject for today’s installment in Song of the Week. (via Wikipedia) For those of you haven't seen High Noon... well, you really should get on that, it's a classic! Aside from being a taut, tightly edited thril...
Read more

Song of the Week #14- "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"

Image
I was watching Belfast with my friend last week, and- like all great films- it raised a lot of questions. Questions like, “Hey, remember the last time I watched Belfast and was inspired to write a blog post because of it ?” and “Hey, why haven’t I written anything Oscar Bait related in a while?” Well, luckily for all of us “The Ballad of High Noon” wasn’t the only Oscar-nominated song featured in Belfast. Unluckily for us, that other song just happens to be “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” (via Wikipedia) Readers of this blog will hopefully remember that I love a good movie musical. Sadly, those were few and far between in the 1960s. Oh sure, movie musicals certainly had a brief resurgence in those days. Many of them were big hits, both critically and commercially. Hell, Best Picture went to a musical on four separate occasions in that decade! But how many of them were actually any good? Not a lot. Oh sure, The Music Man is great fun and Mary Poppins is a classic. But far too many mu...
Read more