Welcome to a new installment of DIRECTORIAL DEBUTS, where we look at some of the best, most
interesting, and iconic directors and the films that started their careers. Just
ahead of the release of Baby Driver,
we’re going to take a look at the directorial debut of acclaimed director Edgar
Wright…A FISTFUL OF FINGERS!
A Fistful of Fingers
is the first feature length film directed by acclaimed British filmmaker Edgar
Wright. After making the short film Dead
Right in 1993, Wright made this similarly low budget-amateur feature film
just two years later before he disappeared into the television ether before
re-emerging with Shaun of the Dead in
2004. This film is a spoof/parody of classic westerns, particularly the Sergio
Leone film from which this film took its name. The film stars Graham Low,
Martin Curtis, Oli van der Vijver, Quentin Green, and William Cornes.
Much like his first short film, this film is extremely
amateurish. It isn’t shot particularly well, acted particularly well, or,
frankly, constructed or written very well. Unlike Dead Right however, this film makes you wonder what Wright could do
with a spoof western if he really were to make one with solid resources at his
disposal. I can’t call this a good film in any uncertain terms, but it’s a film
that I believe is representative of the rough edges of an artist about to sand
them away and come into full bloom.
What I think this film does impeccably well is find the key
artery to what makes a western a western and brilliantly deconstructs it in a
totally ingenious way. The way Wright cleverly pulls imagery and motifs that
fans of cinema will recognize gives this movie a very deep truth and
effectiveness that makes it incredibly watchable despite some technical weaknesses.
In addition to its actual understanding of the films it is trying
to spoof, I thought the humor was effectively timed and delivered. I did find
some jokes sorely underwritten, no question, but one thing Edgar Wright has seemingly
always had was an eye for timing and editing. He knew what he had to put where
and he was cleverly able to move me as an audience member through this tale and
get a few legitimate chuckles along the way.
Finally, the animated portions of this movie were neat. They
weren’t anything fantastic, but they were cool to see and felt like they
enhanced the storytelling when they very easily could have ruined it in all
sorts of ways. Changing the medium of expression is hard, and Wright’s ability
to do it in this film really showed me some of clever decisions I would come to
expect from him later on.
As I said from the outset, and have continued to stress,
this film is poor and amateurish. You don’t have to look any further than image
quality. It is facially a substandard film. That doesn’t mean it is one that
you can’t like, per se, but it sets it off on the wrong foot. Further, there is
nothing in the rest of the cinematography that inspires any optical interest
from the audience. The camera movements, such as they are, are not terribly
interesting and even the framing is somewhat off in moments.
Further, the sound in this film is horrendous. There are
several high pitched squeals that made my ears feel like they were going to
bleed. I get what it’s getting at, and maybe even making fun of, but it didn’t
make for an enjoyable experience for me. Moreover, the sound mix itself isn’t
good and really shows the limitations of filmmaking at this level. You feel
every dollar not spent and that is never something you want to be thinking
about when watching a film.
Finally, I must comment on the acting. It is truly
atrocious. I think that if this film had some real quality performers in it,
the script could have been salvaged to the point that this would make a pretty
fun parody film. Sadly, that’s not what we have in store. This film has
completely awful performers who give flat and uninteresting performances.
Graham Low in the lead role is far and away the strongest but even he feels a
little college drama class than someone in an actual theatrical film.
Overall, this film is one that left me really wondering what
Edgar Wright could achieve in this space. Imagine if he had actual horses
instead of obviously fake ridiculous looking ones. Imagine if he could shoot in
stunning vistas and legitimate sets. Imagine if he had a cast that matched him
on talent. All I can do is imagine. This is an ok amateur film. But, at the end
of the day, it was his first time out and that is nothing to shake a stick at.
Ryan’s Score: 3/10
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