Fiction
Premiere
54th Bilbao Int. Short and Documentary Film Festival (ZINEBI) (BEST SHORT & BEST SCREENPLAY)
Synopsis
“The alchemy of art is a futile experiment. So is life.” And with these words, Isaias built himself a boat.
Distribution
MANKUSO
And of course, 'The Perfectionists,' the new Martian-esque creation (in its noblest sense) by the uncategorizable Tucker Dávila, who already caught attention with 'Los 4 Mcníficos' (...). Dávila reoffends with another portrayal of an impossible group: in this case, a formation of Dadaist performance, with a leader and some followers who are truly eccentric, and where humor, discomfort, and even a certain emotional attachment are evenly distributed. 'The Perfectionists' will be the first short film broadcast on TVE, on the night of Tuesday the 17th."
Today, as a complement to a Basque filmmaker (Alex de la Iglesia), we have a Basque short film as brilliant as it is bewildering: 'The Perfectionists' by Tucker Dávila Wood. We had already enjoyed the hilarious 'Los 4 McNifikos' from the same director. Now he continues in the same narrative style (...) an exciting ending for a brilliant nonsense."
Infectiously light-hearted look at a band of precocious, pretentious actors and the odd, occasionally macabre, processes they go through. Would watch a full length with the same characters. 4/5.”
I found myself being moved by some of the descriptions of why they put themselves through it, and what they have to do to understand the nature of art and of acting and of life. What’s more, some of the scenes really WERE quite artistic – the group in full costumes posed stationary on the rail track for instance, and especially the shadow play on a city wall. OK, I laughed along with the director as well, but then I thought, hey – this feeling of belonging, of suffering for one’s beliefs, of sharing daily struggles and minor achievements has an almost religious aura (...) I look forward to seeing more of his work on the big screen. 10 out of 10 stuff – really!”
The most personal perspective among all the short filmmakers belongs to Tucker Dávila, who in 'The Perfectionists' remains faithful to his absurd humor and immensely powerful visual sense by uncovering a group of reckless theater performers - something like 'The Big Lebowski's nihilists - who take the Stanislavski method to its ultimate consequences."
