Funny Face – not to be confused by the 1957 Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn musical of the same name – is the latest film from indie filmmaker, Tim Sutton, who is someone I have not been particularly fond of, at least with the films of his that I’ve seen, those being his prior two, Dark Night and Donnybrook. I often find that his atmospheric indulgences overpower any ideas or emotions that are conveyed by the narrative. And though I haven’t seen his first two films, I can’t imagine they would be any different in that regard. However, to my surprise, Funny Face is not only his best work to date, but it overcomes a lot of the issues I’ve previously had, while also not skimping on his style.
The film explores the bond between two outsiders – Saul (Cosmo Jarvis), a James Dean loving loner who lives with his grandparents and is likely on the spectrum, and Zama (Dela Meskienyar), a young angsty Muslim woman trying to find her place while grieving the relatively recent death of her father (her mom is also apparently long out of the picture, she lives with her strict aunt and uncle). While they spend time together, we also explore the changing city, which the film touches on through a nameless real estate developer, simply credited as The Developer (Johnny Lee Miller), who is planning on tearing down Saul’s apartment complex in order to build a parking lot.
With this particular film, it feels like Sutton’s thematic interests and stylistic impulses finally come together in a way that is very compelling, and in a way that can perhaps best be described as Gus Van Sant by way of Nicolas Winding Refn. Like his previous films that I’ve seen, it is leisurely in its pacing, the dialogue is often sparse and usually broad in a way to get certain points across, and all expressed with a serious knack for striking visuals. He – and cinematographer Lucas Gath – somehow makes modern New York feel like the New York of the 80s, full of grime, grit, yet with his dreamy overtones, which are emphasized by Phil Mossman’s amazingly moody score.
All that said, this isn’t that much of a departure from what you would expect from Sutton. The plotting is the least of the film’s concerns, and all the big beats that you would expect from this have either already happened, or don’t totally come to fruition. Saul’s anger towards the Developer, which reflects the anger harbored by many New Yorkers in regards to gentrification, leads him on a vengeful path, but it doesn’t quite go the way you think, instead focusing more on the way this situation affects his not romantic, but also not-not romantic relationship with Zama, exploring how two disaffected youths process the changes happening around them, especially in the unforgiving and ruthless face of capitalism.
The performances really shine here, and they breathe a lot of life into what I imagine to be a pretty emotionally stiff script. Cosmo Jarvis has done great work in films like Lady Macbeth and The Shadow Of Violence, and he’s fantastic here, bringing a lived-in quality that goes beyond the awkward ticks and erraticisms that make up the character. And with Dela Meskienyar, she is making her debut, and she practically outshines her more experienced co-stars. She brings a lot of heart to the film, and the film handles Zama’s Muslim background far better than you usually get from white filmmakers. While she does trade in her niqab for a hijab, I’m glad there isn’t that cringey trope of the Muslim woman removing her headscarf as a way to indicate freedom. Everyone else in the film is good, but it belongs to these two, and they make a strong impression.
Funny Face is far from perfect, Sutton’s stylistic instincts still have a tendency to overpower some of the themes the film is exploring. However, I was able to really vibe with what he was doing here. His presentation and flourishes come across so much better here than it did before, and with purpose as well. Even when he does indulge, it’s for moments that really work beautifully as pure cinema, like an extended sequence where Zama and Saul talk on a rooftop overlooking the shore during happy hour, making them silhouettes – a total chef kiss moment. The ending is certainly ambiguous on a couple of elements, not providing closure on a number of things, which is a little frustrating, but ultimately feels right. It does a great job at capturing the feeling of what it’s like for a whole generation to grow up under circumstances where it seems like the rich and powerful get to do what they wish while everyone else suffers, and there is little hope to be found. But it’s in the connections we make with one another that hope does come, even for just a moment. I was pleasantly surprised by this, and it definitely makes me more curious to see if I could find myself connecting to Tim Sutton’s future works.
Funny Face is now out on VOD platforms.