Dinner Is Ready

Synopsis

Four students are invited to a dinner party by a mutual friend, and none knows the others. When the host burns the lasagna and leaves to get takeaway pizza, an awkward conversation becomes a surreal argument that ends in tears and popcorn on the floor.

In the short film Dinner Is Ready, directed and co-written (with Timothy Finley Jacobi) by Lili Murciano, the clever dialogue lines deliver its theme. The purpose is to show how difficult it can be for people to accept different opinions, an universal and timeless subject that seems so relevant today. The scenario is a dinner table where four people that don’t know each other are forced to interact for some minutes while their friend and host is away. This setup is simple but effective, appropriate for the short film format.

However, it seems that the direction did not make a previous plan of how to shoot the scenes. Although the movie is thorough enough to use a myriad of shots to compose an accelerated rhythm, this is one of the resources that is applied without a progressive order. In other words, the quantity of shot does not increase at the same pace as the temperature of the discussion gets higher. The same observation applies to the way the camera is used. Besides the fact that the camera is really shaken, including slingshot movements, in the final part, it doesn’t follow a progressive path from fixed on a tripod to handheld. As a result, it looks like the camera is used in an aleatory way and not coming out from the director’s decision, though this may have been the case. Moreover, the progression could also be on other resources, for example, in the camera distance from the actors, starting from stablishing shots and culminating with extreme close-ups.

Directed by

Bailey Wall

Lili Murciano, Timothy Finley Jacobi

Written by

Cast

Ines Argenzio, Gabriele Rollo, Francesco Turcato, Mariana Moya, Lili Murciano

Lili Murciano

In the other hand, the slow motion in the last scene is a tiptop idea, because it highlights how ridiculous is the four young adults fighting a pop corn war like children. The funny music in the soundtrack ads even more to this perception. Nevertheless, the moment when the host arrives should be more impactful.

Concerning the acting, the performance is convincing while the actors are arguing. However, as the characters become more irritated, they cannot achieve the tension the scenes require. Which is perfectly understandable, as these moments demand a complete immersion of the actors into their characters, which is something that experience will bring to these young performers.

Finally, Dinner Is Ready presents some technical issues. For instance, the art direction should have straightened the curtains behind the table. And there is not enough make-up on the actors’ faces, along with the post-production that could improve this aspect, besides equalizing the colors throughout the scenes, as the lighting feels uneven. Finally, it must be pointed out that the sound is very irregular, in some parts it is very difficult do listen to what is being said. The are details that become obstacles to the full appreciation of the viewer.

All that is pointed out in this text matters, because all that is on the screen matters. And this short film is a work from a director starting a career; being so, Lili Murciano does a great move risking and learning by doing.

Timothy Finley Jacobi

Produced by

Eduardo Kaneco

Film critic, the founder of Leitura Filmica