32/14
Features Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)
Narrative
An aspiring actor undergoes a radical medical procedure to transform his appearance. But the new face of his dreams soon turns into a nightmare.. Filmed in 22 days during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.. [last lines; to Edward] Oswald: Oh, my friend, you haven’t changed a bit..
Shimberg could have used some lines from The Substance for a dramatic and brutal ending
If you think another man could say anything profound and insightful about living with a physical deformity, you might be disappointed. Despite its subject matter, the film fails to make any discernible point about the challenges and effects of visible facial disfigurement. The story uncomfortably weaves into a love triangle, pitting Edward/Gaia (Stan) against Oswald (Pearson) for Ingrid’s affections. The real tragedy is that there is nothing compelling about Ingrid, the self-proclaimed playwright, or her decision to stage a play about her supposedly dead neighbor, Edward, whose affections she rejects because of his disfigurement.
Oswald’s appearance and sudden ubiquity are equally sudden
Even more amusing is her sudden change of heart about Oswald’s disfigurement and attractiveness, which sends Edward, now Guy, tumbling into stalker territory. There is not enough exposition of Edward’s new life as Guy in post-production. , his astronomical rise as a real estate ad kid, and his continued infatuation with Ingrid, regardless of the other women he has dated and dated. He fits into every scene with uncharacteristic ease and preternatural charm.
It’s not an inconvenience at all
In real life, Shimberg explained that he was struck by Pearson’s charisma, which Pearson explained was a compensatory mechanism to disarm people with a friendly attitude before they could judge his appearance. I think Shimberg had good intentions, but Oswald became a caricature of Pearson; a particularly striking example is the scene where Oswald does yoga in the park, dressed in traditional Indian clothing. Another person would have been more effective as a battle between the vulnerable real self represented by Edward, who is painfully self-conscious and lonely by necessity, and Oswald’s grandiose false self, who goes through life as if his disfigurement doesn’t exist. And in the movie, Edward/Gay would have defeated the grandiose Oswald to achieve a holistic integration between his old and new selves.
Leave a Reply