Changing Hands is a terrific new short film comedy written and directed by Sarah Gordon, and produced with backing from the National Film and Television school. Taking the form of a mockumentary, it follows director and wannabe cinematic genius Kevin Perkins (Dominic Allen), as he embarks on an ambitious new project. Venturing into ‘the most average areas of Britain’, Perkins hopes to discover how the lives of several young men and women from various social backgrounds have been shaped by their parents and upbringings, and what paths their lives have taken. This proves to be a more challenging task that he planned…
Running at a brisk running time of just under half an hour, Changing Hands wastes no time in establishing its influences and tone. The work of Christopher Guest (This Is Spinal Tap) looms large over the proceedings though there are also echos of the incredibly dry wit of Alan Bennett. Thankfully the unique brand of characters and settings do keep the proceedings very fresh. Despite the seemingly meandering tones that the faux talking head interviews take on, the pacing is incredibly brisk and light footed, with the comedic timing of both writer and performers spot on. We whisk through an array of eccentric characters from a pair of pretentious would-be musicians to a preschool teacher with yearnings for Shakespeare. There’s that unique sense of quiet desperation and disappointment underlying the interviews that I’ve always felt is quite unique to British comedy. Or at least British comedy at its finest. Some of the material is cringe comedy in the best possible sense. Each segment is pitched at just the right length; each individual character has a lasting impression yet the writing knows never to over indulge or linger too long.
I had the fortune to meet the writer and director Gordon at a screening at the BFI Southbank. Though our discussion was brief we talked about the influences that had been brought to the project as well as it’s inception. With the idea in place, crowdsourcing funding was used in order to obtain the budget. A brief ‘proposal’ video was created to get backers interest once a script and performers were lined up. It was apparently a quick and efficient process that marks an exciting and unique time for budding filmmakers, where finance and resources are now so readily available from both professional and private services. As she put it to me, ‘you can now pretty much make a film on a phone’. It certainly helped to have such a supportive and creative body as the NFT involved in the project. Changing Hands will have a wider release at upcoming national film festivals before Gordon commences production of another comedic short this winter. On the basis of this, it will be well worth checking out.