Boss of the Ballet

Boss of the Ballet is another resurrected, 80s-produced, New York-based project by writer-director Lindley Farley. The previous film, directed by Farley, reviewed on this website was The Bulls’ Night Out which told a disturbing story of violent cop vigilantism (a film that this critic admired very much). Our film in discussion is, unlike the film just mentioned, a short – and a comedy; it stars Hank Frazier and Pasquale Gaeta as two sanitation workers who, after one of them reveals a love of ballet, set out on preparing a performance for the sanitation talent show. But they’re missing one thing: a musical instrument for accompaniment (Roslyn Ziff portrays the wife who divulges that she gave their oboe away to one of the neighbour's children). As the film progresses ever further into farcical crime-comedy territory, the lengths to which our protagonists will go to retrieve their oboe results in genuine hilarity, and a truly fantastic piece of filmmaking.

Beginning with the piece’s formal attributes, the most obvious drawing point (especially for today’s viewers, perhaps discovering Boss of the Ballet on the internet) is the analogue videotape, 16mm, 4:3 format. This, of course, was by necessity. No movies would be produced using any digital cameras for another decade. And yet, despite it being the default mode of presentation, the gritty texture and feel of these sounds and images completely lend themselves (much like Scorsese’s work for instance) to the New York, on-location film scene. Not only this, but the approach to the direction and cinematography is also of an incredibly high quality – especially on a level of blocking. ‘Less is more’ is not always the case; but here it certainly is. Farley knew that the best way to experience the comedic behaviours of these talented performers was to do so in expertly composed wide 2-shots and medium shots. With both on screen at once – without the camera drawing attention to its own, unbroken existence through movement or obtrusive angles – the screenplay can truly flourish. And yet it’s not in any way stagey! This is a cinematic, artistically detailed piece.

In thematic terms, what this movie shares with The Bulls’ Night Out is an uncompromising depiction of social situations and working life in the big city. All the political tensions which are so explicitly defined in the cop-drama are also very present in this – but used, rather intelligently, more as background set-decoration so as to enrich the lives of these characters and give the humorous narrative some grounding. This actually makes the comedy far funnier, because it almost feels as if you’re laughing at/with a friend, as opposed to some simulated, theatrical display of perfect comic timing.

It was already exciting to discover the other piece, but to have been sent another outstanding, forgotten work of art by the same director is quite riveting. It makes you wonder just how much quality we’ve missed or neglected over the years; and the fact that it’s arguably just as important to be searching for and reevaluating older unseen shorts as it is the contemporary.