Haha!

This will be brief since I'm rather tired. I just came from watching Andrew Bujalski's Funny Ha Ha. The directory was in attendance after the film to do a Q&A. He's been promoting this film for about three years, as it slowly wends itself to a variety of theaters. This is the life of an indie filmmaker. He says this may be the last Q&A he does for this film, as there are no new places to show the film.

There are two things that struck me. First, his use of non-actors was somewhat obvious. If anything, Bujalski appears to be trying to emulate the kind of awkward dialogue that people normally have, as opposed to the pitch-perfect dialogue a film usually has. There are a lot of "ums", "well, yeah", and moments of awkwardness throughout. Although I've always wondered how a film that's close to life might be, I now see why there are some problems making it too real. It can seem awfully awkward for the viewer too. For some reason, we expect a higher level of clarity in film than in real life.

The second is the quality of both the film and the framing. Clearly, Bujalski has more ideas about dialogue than he appears to have skill framing shots. There are scenes where faces are oddly cut off.

Hmm, so basically, this is a film about Marnie, a well-meaning girl, who's attractive, but unsure of herself. She wants to be involved in a relationship, but there's maybe three or four guys interested in her. One guy is just out of a relationship, and she has tried to put him behind her, because she once made the moves on him while she was drunk and he still had a girlfriend. Another guy who already has a girlfriend also wants her. A nerdy guy who works with her as a temp at an office also likes (the nerdy guy is the director himself).

I suppose it should remind me of one of Spike Lee's earliest films She's Gotta Have It, though I've never seen the film, only previews. From what I gather, it's about a sassy black woman who has two or more suitors that want her. In a sense, this film is similar, but where everyone has some kind of hangup.

Like many indie films, this one doesn't have a strong sense of where it's going. It details the lives of about five to six individuals, mostly Marnie. Due to the budget, Bujalski doesn't use any music (Shane Carruth, by contrast, composed music for his low-budget film, Primer).

There are some gaps in what goes on, including, to me, the key one, which is why Alex got married, and then why he's willing to be unfaithful, and why Marnie, who had a thing for Alex, doesn't ask him "what the hell?" about him getting married.

Why do all these guys like Marnie? It's pretty much as Mitchell, the nerd says. She's beautiful. She's "great". Guys want to be with her.

I must say, though, that there is a sameness to the way the characters talk and act. This is perhaps true of all films, but when the characters are so noticeably awkward, it's more noticeable. The last time I recall thinking this was watching one of Whit Stillman's films, like Barcelona. Everyone has this odd deadpan delivery, which reduces the kind of variety you expect.

At times, the film drags and I was beginning to wonder what the point was. Its ending left the audience in gasps, since it resembles (spoilers ahead) the ending of Before Sunset, which ends with Jesse deciding he is going to miss his flight to be with Celine. Where that ending really had impact because you were just curious what would happen, and yet knew exactly what was going to happen, this is not so much the case with Funny Ha ha.

Ah, the title. Bujalski was asked this question. He said he had thought of the title early on. He didn't have a particularly good reason. He sort of wanted it to be something different from what the movie is about. The movie isn't particularly funny, except the brief moments of awkward recognition when you realize that the characters may have said or done something just as embarassing as you.

Ultimately, I wonder if I can get beyond the quality of acting, which is good, though not great, which is to, say, not professional. I know it's what Bujalski wanted. He said as much in his Q&A, and yet, being fed on a diet of professional actors, and even quality non-professionals as those in Kiarostami films, I can't help but wonder if this is biasing me. It doesn't have anything deep to say, and so how much you like it may depend on how much you care about the characters. I couldn't quite bring myself to say that I liked any of them deeply.

I'm not sure how much I wanted Marnie to find someone since she's not so sure herself. She's caught between longing for Alex and not longing for him. She also appears to make a mistake with Dave, though that never comes up and bites her. It's the kind of mistake that people do, I'm sure make, and yet her earnestness prevents us from vilifying her decisions.

I'd probably give it about a 5 out of 10 for a solid effort.