SLAP (2015), directed by Nick Rowland:
Slap, directed by Nick Rowland in 2015, is a BAFTA nominated short film that explores the self-acceptance of a teenage boy who is hiding his true identity. An athletic, macho boxer on the outside; in his bedroom, he cross-dresses and hides his true identity from his father, girlfriend and friends. The film challenges traditional masculine stereotypes and criticises a society that does not accept people in the LGBTQ+ community. At the beginning of the film, we are aware that Con is hiding his identity from his girlfriend, family and the rest of the world: he lies to his girlfriend as says he has to ‘train’, when in reality, he goes home to experiment with clothing and make up. Con’s identity is revealed to his mate, Archie, when Archie calls for Connor’s help when he is being chased and beaten up due to his sexuality. He reveals his identity to his girlfriend at a party, in which he feels confident enough to dress himself up. However, he is betrayed as Lola lashes out on him and Archie tries to take advantage of him. At the end of the film, we see his anger and frustration to the world as he beats up his boxing partner.
Expectations:
From initially looking at the title, I estimated that this short film would be a comedy as the title is onomatopoeic. But after second thoughts, I thought it could be darker, about the metaphorical feeling of being slapped. This led me to believe it could be a dark comedy.
Screen grabs and micro-element/narrative structure analysis:
At the beginning of the film, the actor, Joe Cole, delicately applies the makeup, showing how much he cares about it and his enthusiasm for it. The mise-en-scene of the posters of female bodies in the background shows that on the outside he presents himself as a heterosexual man, so straight away, we know he is hiding his identity.
The recurring motif of the mirror in the film represents duality. In his room, Con feels comfortable, but when his father comes into the room, his physicality changes - he is more tense and upright - showing that outside the walls of his room is not an accepting place.
The use of shadow whilst Con, Archie and Lola are walking along makes it clear that he is hiding his identity from the people he is closest to. The camera is handheld and shaky, which I think is a visual manifestation of his emotional state.
This mid shot, in which Con shadow boxes the camera in his bedroom is heartbreaking to watch, as whilst he is wearing a dress and proud of his makeup, he feels the need to act macho and masculine by throwing punches. The director uses montage to show his reactions to himself as time passes - his hand gestures change and become more delicate, showing a growing sense of comfort, which in turn satisfies the audience. The camera is static and we are forced to observe his physicality and contrast it to the mise-en-scene.
An extreme low angle is used when Con goes to answer the door for Archie, who is being harassed by a group of men due to his sexuality. Usually low angles make the character seem more imposing, but due to the expressive lighting, it makes his shadow look more imposing - again, bringing our attention to the idea of duality. In this moment Con feels conflicted: he doesn’t know whether he is ready to reveal his true identity, but also knows that he should help his friend, who is in danger.
This shot is ironic because it occurs after Lola says to Con ‘why didn’t you tell me?’ (in reference to the fight), in a very supportive fashion, which Con mistakes for ‘why didn’t you tell me? (About your true identity). The audience suspect that she was referring to the fight, so when she says ‘dress up yeah’, we know he will reveal his true identity. The camera dolly’s backwards as Con struts forwards, foregrounding a sense of empowerment as he controls the camera. He moves from long shot to close up, so we can observe his confidence and his outfit in more detail. In this moment, we feel happy for him as he finally seems as peace with his identity and ready to reveal his true identity to the world, but it is ironic as we know that no one at the party will be expecting it, and we fear their reactions. Music is important here, and Rowland uses a powerful, non-diegetic soundtrack to emphasise his empowerment.
After Lola makes fun of his outfit, mistaking him for making a joke out of the party theme, Con tries to play it off in a cool manner. However, we see, through this close up, his facial expression fall, showing his pain as he does not feel accepted. The dark, expressionistic lighting foregrounds his emotions and makes us sympathise with him.
The green lighting used here is powerful in the expression of Con’s disgust. He is angry and sad to the point that he feels ill, and he hides himself in the bathroom. It is heartbreaking to watch as we know he feels embarrassed and ashamed, despite the fact he should not.
This is the final shot of the film. It is a low angle shot of Con beating up the person we are from the POV of. We feel his rage, anger and power in this moment, and we know it is not to do with boxing. He is angry at the society he wants to be accepted in, but is not. He clearly feels strong emotions that he projects on to his sparring partner. Throughout this long take, Rowland uses silence to show that he can no longe control himself due to the anger and frustration he feels inside.
My response
I thought that this film was incredibly well produced and it profoundly affected me. The themes it deals in are very contemporary and it is easy to sympathise with Connor and his feelings due to today’s society. At times, it is hard to watch his character journey as there are moments of sadness, such as when he enters the party, but also moments of happiness, when we see his smile when he talks to Archie about makeup. The ending is left open as we do not know what Con does next, or even what happens to the man he is sparring with. We wonder whether or not he will stay with Lola, or if he makes ups with Archie…
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