(Canada, 10 min.)
Dir. Bruce Alcock, Writ. Ed Richie & Bruce Alcock
Programme: Short Cuts Canada Programme 5 (World Premiere)
 |
| Photo taken from the production, courtesy of the NFB. |
“Why do you always have to make things so complicated?”
Chuck wonders in a thought bubble that arises in Bruce Alcock’s jazzy short Impromptu. Egged that his wife, Sylvie,
invited a baker’s dozen of co-workers to the nice he is in the midst of preparing (and planning to
use as a first course for some dialogue of the “We need to talk”
variety), Chuck takes a foodie’s approach to a hectic situation. He cooks up
some joie de vivre by immersing himself
in gourmet recipes that provide an escape from—and a solution to—his relationship
woes. Alcock sets the action to the energetic tempo of Chopin’s Fanataisie Impromptu—Chuck’s cooking
soundtrack of choice—and takes a simplified approach to this mouth-watering
delight. Things are better when they aren’t complicated, as Chuck rightly
notes, and Alcock’s ‘less is more’ approach is highly satisfying.
Impromptu is
exciting and visually appealing even though Alcock leaves much of the
canvas blank. Sketching the outlines of Chuck’s busy kitchen in wonderfully
vibrant strokes, Impromptu invites
the audience to colour inside the lines of with the palette of their
imagination. One smells the aroma and tastes the food in Impromptu’s entertaining spread as the sound effects create mental images to fill in the skeletal
sketches one sees onscreen. Impromptu,
as all good foodie films do, excites the senses with its lively sizzles and
chop-chop rhythm as Chuck sautés mushrooms, grates cheese, and minces garlic
(much to the chagrin of a cantankerous party guest). The wine in Chuck’s glass
is the only full-bodied colouring—always the sign of a good red—and the chef
invites one to use the clatter of the kitchen chaos and be the sous-chef. It’s
a new kind of fusion, and a fun one at that.
Alcock and his team provide a vibrant canvas on which festivalgoers
can paint with their own brushes and participate in the film’s amusing
celebration of the imagination. The film evokes sensation of the conviviality
and good cheer conjured by the pairing of good food and good friends. Impromptu knows that the road between
the heart and the belly as just as much a two-way street as the path of art and
imagination. Impromptu is a toast to
life. Santé!
Rating: ★★★½ (out of ★★★★★)
Rating: ★★★½ (out of ★★★★★)
Short Cuts Canada Programme 5 screens:
Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 9:15 pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox 2
Thursday, Sept. 12 at 2:30 pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox 4
Some of the shorts
will also be playing online 24 hours after their public screening, so please
check http://www.youtube.com/tiff and
see if Impromptu is one them!
Also reviewed from
Short Cuts Canada 5: The End of Pinky
***Impromptu also
screens at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in the Canadian Showcase
on Thursday, September 19 at 3:45 pm at the Museum of Nature.
