Short Film Review: "Funfair" Hilariously Examines Family Obligation
Funfair is an Iranian short film directed by Kaveh Mazaheri, who also co-wrote the script with Sepinood Najian, that hilariously examines the family dynamic with incisive dark comedy. Grounded in its absurdity, Funfair is making a big splash on the festival circuit, and it recently became an Oscar-qualifying short by winning the Foyle Film Festival for Best International Film.
A financially struggling man, Majid (Soroush Saeidi), comes up with a ploy in order to better the life of his wife Sara (Sonia Sanjari).
When we first met Sara, she’s ominously staring off into on-coming traffic with her back turned. There’s a wobble to her posture, and it feels as if she may fall right into the cars as they pass. As tensions build more and more toward a breaking point, Sara is yanked back to safety by her husband, Majid, who takes her and their son, Artin, under his arms as he guides them both down the street. Majid’s actions appear on the surface as some sort of rescue, but we quickly learn that there’s more to the scenario than meets the eye.
Funfair takes what’s supposed to be a fun family day trip to the titular funfair and twists it up into a father’s darkly comedic harebrained scheme to pull his family — or more specifically himself — out from under the boot heels of debt. Majid ‘s plan, which is as selfish and ill-informed as the business ventures that wound up getting his family in debt in the first place, is to have Sara fake a car accident so they can extort money from the driver for damages, which Majid estimates will be doubled since they’re in a Forbidden Month.
Needless to say, Funfair is full of irony and absurdity, but everything about it, from the performances to the filmmaking, is firmly and realistically grounded. Its sociological leanings, exploration of awkward/uncomfortable scenarios, and restrained direction bring the works of Ruben Östland to mind, which is a compliment in the highest regard. Part of the joy of the short’s experience is watching the situation evolve and how the characters — particularly Majid and Sara — react to its evolution. With each conversation between Majid and Sara, we’re provided new shades of their characters, and while their respective arcs aren’t too drastic, both Soroush Saeidi and Sonia Sanjari create well-rounded characters with a believable shared history.
From a filmmaking standpoint, everything is very well executed. Mazaheri and cinematographer Behrouz Badrouj succeed in creating a palpable atmosphere and a visual language, which gives the piece a nice cohesive feel. Stylistically, Mazaheri favors locked down static shots, which are well composed and generally play to characters reactions. By making good use of negative space early on in the short, Mazaheri is also able to provide visual information that subtly shades and defines the audiences understanding of Majid and Sara’s relationship. Giving a dreadful and ominous edge to the short’s atmosphere is the terrific score by Keto Siquiera and Roberto Coelho.
Narratively, the short uses its hilariously absurd scenario to explore the family dynamic through a lens of wholly grounded situational comedy. It finds some interesting things to quietly comment on, such as gender roles and familial hierarchy in Iran, as well as how these potential toxic qualities may seep into the psyche and actions of the younger generation, but it’s hard to tell if these things are intentional by design or a coincidental byproduct of how the short unfolds. Either way, it leaves you with some interesting things to chew over. The downside of the short being built around a central gag is that it makes the film’s final moments a bit too obvious; however, it ultimately lands on the kind of note that will make you chuckle even though you could see it coming from a mile away.
If you’d like to learn more, you can check out our interview with actor and producer Soroush Saeidi here!
Rating: 3.5 fake accidents outta 5.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!