It has long been said that good things come in small packages and Alexandra Essoe’s short film THE CARNAL SOUL is proof of that.
Marking her directorial debut, within mere moments, Essoe delivers heartfelt emotion that ranges from sadness and the heaviness of life to a beautiful poignancy to humor to guilt and contrition to even an “igotcha”. Relying on images and performance with no dialogue until the last half of this 12-minute gem, Essoe lets us feel the emotion and unfolding events.
The day starts with Mort, an elderly man, waking from slumber. With deliberate and careful intent, he slowly rises, looks at the suit and tie he has laid out with great care. He grooms himself with care, wanting to look his best. This is a man from days gone by, who took pride in his “just so” daily appearance; a long-established routine. There is a palpable sadness in Mort as he finishes dressing. You wonder if his wife has passed thanks to his solemnity of approaching the day and he is trying to look his best to say goodbye. The camera closes in on things in his house. A wedding photo on his nightstand, simple furnishings and decor. He makes a simple breakfast of tea and toast and sits down to write. A eulogy perhaps? We see dozens of crumpled yellow legal pad pages on the kitchen floor as he struggled to find the right words to write. As Mort leaves his house in a screen-wrapped rideshare, one can’t help but notice Mort’s pants are now a bit too long, his jacket and shirt a bit big around the collar. He walks with a stooped slow gait. Age has wielded its unkind hammer on Mort.
Arriving at a local hospice emergency room, we discover that Mort is there to visit a friend. We hear him speak for the first time as David is hooked up to multiple machines and monitors and wearing an oxygen mask. He doesn’t speak, but looks at Mort with every word Mort utters. 50 years of guilt is eating away at Mort. Selfishness, envy, jealousy, betrayal. All drove a wedge between these once friends. Can Mort now make amends for his actions or are his words merely paying lip service to ease his own conscience?
Written and directed by Alexandra Essoe, character construction is beautifully designed and executed, using visuals and staging to convey emotion and story. When we finally get to hear Mort speak in the second half of the film (mind you, it’s only 12 minutes long), a 50 year history of feelings, friendship/frenemyship, all come tumbling out, telling us all we need to know about Mort and David. But, it’s all from Mort’s POV. What does David have to say? Will he accept Mort’s confessional apology? And that is much of the filmmaking beauty of THE CARNAL SOUL.
There is a wonderful cinematic marriage between Bob Gunton as Mort and cinematographer John Paul DeFazio’s camera. Close-ups are our friend in this short and DeFazio has some beautiful ones; an ECU profile, a hand, a framed photograph. As we move through Mort’s day, the camera serves as beautiful storytelling metaphor as we move from mid-shots in Mort’s house to a wider shot outside and in the hospital, but then incrementally moving in with close-ups as the two men are connecting.
Bob Gunton is perfection as Mort. He conveys every emotion, be it in silence or when Mort is speaking to David. As the feelings become more intense, the waterworks start, the head hangs low. His remorse for a lifetime of “bad behavior” is palpable. His words and cadence are modulated with emotion. And the camera captures every expression.
Countering Gunton’s performance is that of Danno Hanks as David. Not easy to perform just laying in a bed, hooked up to machines and then having only moments to bring it all home with a few words and physical expressiveness. But the beauty about Hanks – and this is also aided by Essoe’s editing – is that we are on tenterhooks waiting to hear David’s response to Mort. Look closely and you’ll see David’s eyes get a bit wider as Mort’s monologue goes on. Is he accepting? Enraged? The tension is beyond palpable.
As a director, Esseo keenly knew to shape this short with a light hand. She let the performances speak even when there is no dialogue. No fancy camerawork. No effects. The simplicity is what makes THE CARNAL SOUL as poignant and precious as it is. Also editing for the first time, Esseo’s pacing is expertly done. She understands how to let performance speak unfettered.
The icing on the cake is the sparsity of score and music, relegating a simple melancholy Debussy piano piece during the first half of the film and wrapping things up with an end credit needle drop of the “hands across the water” refrain from The Beatles “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”.
Written and Directed by Alexandra Esseo
Cast: Bob Gunton and Danno Hanks
by debbie elias, 05/22/2024
