Putting on the Dish (2015)

the audience applauded

Strong and Moving!

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Given the shortness of this short I think the film cleverly illustrates the depth and variety of polari and its delivery as a subversive communication tool. The repressive undertones and the bittersweet dialogue encapsulate a world we are some distance from now, thankfully, but the curious mix of camaraderie and judgemental outrage are still key aspects of 2018 gay culture in my experience.The final exchange where one character spits in the face of the other and the receiver just takes another drag of his cigarette without wiping his face graphically amplifies a degree of self-loathing so redolent of a certain gay mind-set. This short film doesn't show the best of gay culture for sure but then why should it? The characters inhabit their world through ill-defined need, relentless lust and easy gratification but it doesn't necessarily mean they feel good about it. As voyeurs we are invited to eardrop on an unlikely exchange given that polari was used principally in a mixed social context. Yes, it could have been developed further but as a seven minute teaser I'm more than happy with it.

Had this video not been made I don't think anybody would have know about Polari. For a short this video heavily relies on the subject of Polari, seemingly forgetting character development and setting.Setting: Polari apparently was used as a means of concealing homosexual discussion from the public yet the two gay characters are found alone in a park with no audience: Why would they need to talk in Polari in such an isolated location?Character: We learn little from the characters (partial because of the language use) and I was left feeling like I had just listened into two egos clash for dominance: I couldn't tell who's side I should be on or even if there was more to these men than lust for one another.It did not show the best of gay culture, despite having such a strong and unique plot device such as Polari. Revisiting this concept and having a better writer might revitalize this short.