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The
ambient sound in the film was good, though sometimes a
bit too loud. Additionally, there were a few times that
background conversation which was intended to be a bed
for a scene ended up threatening to overwhelm the main
characters' dialogue, specifically when Marnie goes out
to a bustling restaurant early in the movie and then when
she goes to a friend's party a little later in the film.
The
only music in the film occurred at two house parties that
Marnie goes to in the course of the film, and these were
quiet beds that were clearly from motivated sources, like
small boomboxes at the parties. There was no soundtrack
music in this film at all, not even in the credits-which
were completely silent. While this might be a problem
in some films, it really fit the slice-of-life world Mr.
Bujalski was attempting to create.
Use
of Budget
To shoot a 16mm color film for $30,000 is amazing. (Don't
forget that, 12 years ago, it cost Kevin Smith $27 K to
make a black and white 16mm!) Even if all the budget went
to film and developing, Mr. Bujalski counted his pennies
very carefully.
Lasting
Appeal
Despite the problems with the overly minimalistic ending,
Funny Ha Ha is a film that bears rewatching because
of how authentic the characters are and feel. As such,
even though I've already seen it a couple of times, I
do want to watch it at least a few more times. I've already
shown it to a few of my friends and am interested in showing
it to a few more.
Overall
Comment
Andrew Bujalski does an amazing job creating an authentic
world with authentic people. Unfortunately, the overly
weak ending diminishes its longevity and makes the film
feel incomplete. With a little more definitive an ending,
the film could easily become a truly great cult classic.
Even without that correction, Funny Ha Ha's perspective
on life, it's charming characters, and its look at how
we really interact deserves watching.
With
this creativity and authenticity, I look forward to seeing
how Mr. Bujalski's next film, Mutual Appreciation, turns
out.
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Content
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6.0
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Visual
Look
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9.0
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Use
of Audio
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7.0
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Use
of Budget
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10.0
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Lasting
Appeal
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8.0
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Overall
Score
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8.0
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The
director of two feature length films and half a dozen short films,
Jeremy Hanke
founded Microfilmmaker Magazine to help all no-budget filmmakers make
better films. His first book on low-budget special effects techniques, GreenScreen Made Easy, (which he co-wrote with Michele Yamazaki) was released by MWP to very favorable reviews. He's curently working on the sci-fi film franchise, World of Depleted through Depleted: Day 419 and the feature film, Depleted. |
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