Serafima Serafimova
You know how some romcoms are funny but daft? The ones with enough fuzzy charm to stop you from hating yourself for laughing at their shitty jokes? Well, Love is Blind is nothing like that. In fact, with some first-class physical comedy and keep-em-on-their-toes vivacity, Dan Hodgson’s Cannes – Palme D’Or nominated short delivers a fresh twist on the love triangle along with bucketfuls of belly laughs and the kind of sweetness that doesn’t get stuck in your teeth.
Alice is about to get it on with a handsome, young chap. Bodies are swiftly disrobing, clothes flying everywhere, passionate intercourse is about to be had… until her husband comes home. I’ll keep what happens next a surprise, but boy are you guys in for a treat! Love is Blind is bold, fitfully funny and thoroughly delightful.
6 minutes isn’t long enough to establish characters, sketch a plot and pump an audience full of laughs, but Hodgson manages all three with deceptive ease. “I was really keen to make something that was really tightly constructed and self-contained. Something that was playful and fun, which subverted expectations and toyed with the audience” – the director explains. There are certainly plenty of witty twists along the way, culminating in the best ending I have seen in a short for a while.
There is so much to love about Love is Blind; the direction is crisp, the humour is fresh, the performances are excellent and it’s all wrapped in a perfect bite-sized package. Beyond the instant gratification, what I personally admire here is Hodgson’s decision to include a character with a physical disability without centering the film around it or seeking sympathy from the audience in any way. Normalising hearing impairment, even encouraging us to laugh at it, feels like a risky move but for me, it’s an applaudable one. It’s also what saves Love is Blind from becoming just a punchline sketch, a pitfall many romcoms fall into.
Love is Blind is sheer comic brilliance. At times over the top but never cartoonish, Hodgson really gets it right. As a result the film is pure, undiluted joy to watch.
Together with Bird Flight Films and the support from the BFI, Hodgson is working on a script for a comedy feature. He is also itching to get back on set for another short he has written but which requires a hefty budget to complete. So if anyone has a spare £15k, do get in touch!