Capitalist Decency stood the pro-Communist Party sympathizer up twice

Written, directed, produced, scored, edited, costumed, lit, supervised and solely starring Jorge Villacorta, Capitalist Decency stood the pro-Communist Party sympathizer up twice (a name which functions as both a title and a complete synopsis) is unquestionably an oddity, which seems to have been the intention…

 

This surreal feature film follows Villacorta, playing a pro-communist party sympathiser, who is phoning and trying to meet up with what is inferred to be a personification of ‘capitalist decency’ in the form of a woman. This tale can be broken down into three very simple and distinct acts despite its hour and ten-minute runtime:

• ACT ONE: A twenty-minute introduction in which our protagonist talks to capitalist decency in a one-sided conversation over the phone. We never hear her voice, only his responses.

• ACT TWO: He heads out into capitalist society and explores the city, shops, and pleasures of modern life, getting stood up by capitalist decency. This takes up another twenty minutes of runtime.

• ACT THREE: This act uses the remaining length of the film to show him crawling around inside a huge liminal space within a tumble dryer looking for her. As the title would suggest, he is stood up yet again.

And that’s the entire plot in a nutshell. This drawn-out and meandering tale serves to put the viewer in the shoes of the protagonist. The repeated rejection from his arranged date will likely leave the audience feeling a similar frustration as the central character. While the sheer length of the film could be seen as unnecessary, I would invite any fellow-watchers to consider if this slow pace is meant to provide a potential arthouse feel, evoking emotions over conveying plot.

 

To further justify the presence of this experimental intention, one could point to the uncanny music. With no soothing melody or pleasing chord progression, the score adds a profoundly uncanny atmosphere that can be felt throughout. However, that is as much praise as can be given for the audio, with most of the dialogue rendered unintelligible due to the low quality of the sound recording. Unfortunately, the obscuration of most dialogue proves critical in a piece such as this that features long stretches of one man talking to himself. As a result, it may be challenging for viewers to understand the filmmakers' stance on the presented political themes, if indeed they have one.

 

Nevertheless, the absolute joy that Jorge Villacorta exudes while making this is hard to ignore. Rambling seemingly unscripted dialogue, jaunting through the city streets, and crawling around under furniture – Villacorta’s playfulness is infectious, and clearly he was having a blast in making this.

 

This bizarre, eccentric, curious, undefinable film will leave viewers scratching their heads in a dazed and delighted confusion. What is this film trying to say? Maybe it isn’t for us to know.