Short - Lost Face: our review of a great short movie

Par Nikayaya, 21 décembre 2017

Subienkow is in mortal danger. The fort he and his fellow fur thieves have erected in the snow is in flames - attacked by the very tribe they enslaved to build it - now only he and Big Ivan remain. As Ivan is tortured before him Subienkow must think fast to escape the terrible, protracted death that awaits him. He calls over the chief, Makamuk, and begins to bargain…(IMDB)

Based on the descriptive imagination of Jack London, Sean Meehan’s film version of Lost Face aims to pay tribute to the both the writer and the tale. A french fur trader caught by an Indigenous tribe, is set to suffer a slow painful death until he devises a way to connect with his captors. Subienkow (Martin Dubreuil) offers Chief Makamuk (Gerald Auger) a warrior secret in exchange for his own life, an offer that draws suspicion and strong opposition from the Chief’s tribe. But Subienkow is as cunning as Makamuk is curious, and thus wins his ‘freedom’, while simultaneously undermining the tribes faith in Makamuk, causing him to lose face.

Gerald Auger fills the screen with his solemn portrayal of Chief Makamuk, but it is Yakaga, played by fantastically by Morris Birdyellowhead, that ultimately steals the spotlight. Yakaga’s pleas to his Chief fall on deaf ears, and every ounce of frustration is lined in Birdyellowhead’s face. Even without subtitles, the audience would have been able to read the fable like film just from the expressions offered up by the talented Morris Birdyellowhead.

Meehan paints a foreboding tale, using landscape and sound to accent Subienkow’s dire position. Interwoven in the visual lies the contrast between the deep distrust of Makamuk’s tribe and Makamuk himself as the characters exchange looks amongst the sounds of Subienkow’s comrades being tortured. Meehan has an eye for not only detailing the sheer magnitude of the situation, but the emotional upheaval of the different parties involved. His attention to detail and care in portraying the Indigenous characters is worth noting, as a group far often left to be represented by stereotypes.

Meehan’s respect for Jack London is apparent in his intent, as Lost Face tells so much in so little a span that is a short film. The questions in the following interview lent themselves easily, his answers even more so. For a rookie directing attempt, Meehan proves he is capable of portraying the tales we need in ways that we can, as an audience, connect to.

Director: Sean Meehan
Writers: Based on a Jack London Short/ Adapted by Sean Meehan
Actors: Gerald Auger, Martin Dubreuil, Daryl Bensonn Morris Birdyellowhead
Review : 3.5/5
Screened via link for San Diego International Film Festival