Céline Roustan
Grief can understandably make people do unusual things. For filmmaker Nicole, as she returns home to New Jersey for the funeral of her childhood friend Lou she finds herself reluctantly agreeing to make a film from a screenplay he left behind, despite its more than questionable quality. In The Ultimate (by Lou Fescano), writer/director Daniel Jaffe uses the meta context of making a film, in an atmosphere of grief, to illustrate the weird feeling of returning home to a place that is both familiar and strange. A dark-comedy exploring some complex themes, this 17-minute short will put viewers through a gamut of emotions as it tackles adulthood, friendship and loss with a surprisingly light touch.
Co-written with lead actor Michelle Uranowitz, the pair shared with us that the premise of The Ultimate (by Lou Fescano) is loosely based on her life, as she went through a similar event where her friend left behind a novel, that no one knew existed. “The idea of a piece of work left behind to be finished was extremely interesting to us both”, Jaffe explains as we quiz the duo on what prompted them to explore this situation. Adding that they were especially drawn to the idea of a “piece of work was to be made in someone’s honor but, you know, bad”.
“We wanted to tell a story about the simultaneous love and aversion for a community that shapes who we are”
Despite how tragic the origin of the story is, both Jaffe and Uranowitz layer the story by giving it a darkly humorous tone, adding a degree of self-awareness to the story. This consistent undercurrent of comedy works to not only complement the more dramatic undertones, but ultimately fleshes out the very universal feeling they capture in their narrative. As the pair explain: “We wanted to tell a story about the simultaneous love and aversion for a community that shapes who we are”.
Who you are Vs where you come from is an identity crisis anyone who moves to a completely different environment is faced with upon returning home. Uranowitz’s character Nicole is the embodiment of this inner turmoil, but she is also the perspective the audience sees the story from and Jaffe makes sure we experience the film and how the events unfold the way she does.
Throughout his production, he employs the sound, the score, the non-linear editing and the cinematography to carefully echo Nicole’s state of mind, as she returns to her hometown with an overwhelming mix of emotions. As she temporarily moves back into the family home, visiting those friends that didn’t move away, she is confronted with this weird feeling of being home, comfortable yet out of place. She is also faced with the tragedy of losing a friend and the added responsibility of turning his bad (and problematic) screenplay into a film that would honor his memory – it’s fair to say Nicole has a lot going on!
Michelle Uranowitz not only plays Nicole within the short, she takes up a role in the film within the film
The mise en abyme in The Ultimate (by Lou Fescano) adds a lot of fun to proceedings and while the filmmakers confess that it was really satisfying to go wild for those scenes, the meta angle it brings to the short adds another layer of entertainment to what could have easily been a much heavier film. Cleverly poking fun at the filmmaking process, the scenes not only provide the audience with a distraction from the real-life subjects at the core of the film, they also seem to become a cathartic experience for Nicole – even though her creative journey is depicted through such a sarcastic lens.
Never overly dramatic, Jaffe’s short still has real emotional impact, even as that aforementioned dark comedy stays present throughout Nicole’s emotional journey. The screenplay is incredibly sharp and witty, and all the zingers are delivered perfectly by the various characters. As previously mentioned, we do experience the film from Nicole’s perspective, which puts a fair share of the success of the film on Uranowitz’s performance – which she totally nails. Her detachment, mixed with grief and the sense of responsibility that was forced upon her, she portrays it all with authenticity, and a dash of sarcasm, that perfectly matches the tone of the film.
After a festival run that saw the film pick up an honorable mention at Slamdance 2021, we’re excited to have The Ultimate (by Lou Fescano) on S/W for its online debut. Since creating this short back in 2019, Jaffe and Uranowitz teamed up again, as co-directors this time, on a new short titled Sales Per Hour, which premiered at SXSW 2021. They are currently working on developing The Ultimate into a feature film.