Khavn signed Epy Quizon for his short film with the romantic title “The Last Gag of Buster Quizon” or “Nothing Funnier than Unhappiness” in the leading role. The ballad, for which Khavn did the directing, wrote the screenplay, was in charge of cinematography and produced the soundtrack, has the aesthetic of a silent film without being mute.
A man is in the foreground of the film. He is introduced to the viewer and right from the beginning a sad ending weighs on him. On a black board there is a white writing, “He will die tonight”. But what will he do in the meantime? The viewer asks himself this question and watches curiously as he wanders, apparently aimlessly, through the landscape. He doesn't seem particularly worried; on the contrary, he seems rather bored. He passes a tree, a beach and a campfire on his wanderings; he makes pauses and stretches out again and again.
Despite the leisurely rhythm of the production the tension in the film remains. What will happen? Will the man be killed or will he kill himself? As the title of the film suggests, however, it is not a tragic, threatening mood that the film creates. On the contrary, Quizon plays a bohemian who, with his elegant clothes and hat, seems to have sprung out of an opera and is only slightly affected by the roughness of the real world.
Khavn arranges the film into different fictional chapters. As in a silent film, the dialogue is conveyed by means of superimposed script panels. But the text is not very informative, it consists of allusions and short questions. The film is supported by an elegiac piano piece that Khavn composed and recorded himself. It underlines the melancholic note of the film and gives it an artistic character. This impression is reinforced by the pictures in black and white.
Khavn also created the images himself, choosing a mixture between static and mobile camera. Sometimes he zooms in very close to the objects, so that you get the feeling that the plane in the sky could fall down on you at any moment, sometimes the viewer sees the protagonist in his environment. Mohini Ochangco is responsible for the editing.
With “Nothing Funnier than Unhappiness”, Khavn has created a kind of western-ballade, which has its strength in the simplicity of the motif and the unagitated staging.
