WORTH WATCHING

Watch: Absurdist Los Angeles Short Film 'The Happy' by Par Parekh

by Alex Billington
February 7, 2020
Source: YouTube

"You have such a clean energy." Gather round for a wacky, fun, absurdist short film that will lift your spirits with a free hug and some spiritual advice. Or not… The Happy is an 8-minute short film made by Indian-American model / actor / filmmaker Par Parekh. The short, which also serves as the pilot for a web series based on the lovelorn and spiritually-lost Par, was inspired by Parekh's initial move to Los Angeles and his subsequent discovery of this strange and magical place. "Angelenos from every walk of life seem to project onto me their hopes and dreams and seek from me spiritual enrichment, which is really pretty comical since I can barely figure out how to get to La Cienega, let alone Nirvana." Also starring Sherra Lasley as Astrid. It's a fairly simple concept, but I like that Par has no dialogue in this short, making the comedic weirdness of it that much more potent. I'd definitely watch more, I just hope we'll get to hear more from Par next time.

Thanks to Raconteur for the tip. Description: "After bumbling through an awkward conversation with his ex, our protagonist stumbles into a wayward flyer that, like falling leaflets from a rescue helicopter, offers him salvation… in the form of a free hug. What unfolds next is reminiscent of Terry Gilliam’s 1985 film Brazil (in which a government worker swats a fly which falls into his typewriter resulting in a typo that leads to the arrest of the wrong man). In The Happy, due to a house number's missing screw, Par lands not at the house of free hugs, but rather at the apartment of a self-obsessed, new-age actress Astrid desperately seeking her own transcendental happiness." The Happy is both written and directed by Par Parekh - visit Tusk Images for more about him. Co-directed by Rebecca Feldman. This premiered at SeriesFest last year, and played at the Austin Film Festival. For more info, visit the YouTube page. To see more shorts, click here. Thoughts?

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