Ep Cho is an actor mostly known for his work in “Our Late Father”. Following one of the latest trends in the industry, he has now turned director (and writer and still actor), in “Before the Party“, an LEGBTQ short that recently won an Oustanding Achievement Award from IndieX Film Fest.
“Before the Party” review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
The movie begins with the image of two cocks on a table, before it opens up on two individuals, Jesse and Nancy talking to a somewhat off Jay, about the former dating a bisexual. The discussion continues on bisexuality with the two agreeing that bisexuality does not feel real. Right at this point, a girl arrives at the scene, Julie, but quickly rushes out, obviously enervated about something. Jay goes after her, and it turns out that the two have just broken up. Furthermore, the girl lets him have it, clearly stating that he considers him rather selfish. The next scene has a trans woman and Alex, a young man in a car, whose discomfort for appearing in what appears to be a party that is about to happen, is quite obvious. Soon, the issues everyone face come to the fore.
eP Cho directs a movie about an issue of the LGBTQ community that is not particularly explored, bisexuality, which, as presented in the movie, seems to be somewhat ostracized, both within and outside of it, with the fact that Jay is Korean-American, adding even more to the strain he feels. The ignorance regarding the term seems to be the focus here, although all the comments are definitely on-the-nose, perhaps due to the small duration of the short, which did not allow them to be explored in other, more intricate ways.
At the same time, a solution comes out of thin air essentially, in an aspect that does add a note of optimism in the film, which is, again though, kind of forced in the narrative. The animation+narration part on the other hand, works quite well, in a rather pleasant break from the somewhat unnatural acting, with the exception of eP Cho, who is probably the most experienced among the cast.
The cinematography by Silvia Lara is competent, but the usual issues with Asian-American productions, which tend to be rather polished and too bright also appear here, making the whole thing feeling like an advertisement on occasion. The last scene on the other hand, is more toned down in that regard, and thus the most visually accomplished in the movie. Nathaniel Pope’s editing results in relatively fast pace, while the placement of the flashback and the animation are particularly well timed.
“Before the Party” has its merits, especially regarding its purpose, but suffers from the 13 minute duration and the artificial acting and character writing. eP Cho has some interesting ideas though, as in the case of the animation, he just needs to work on them a bit more.
