Co-directors Matthias Rosenberger and Betina Dubler have created a delightful, little, 18 minute masterpiece about the day in the life of a paranoid man who goes out to eat lunch. Finn (Johannes Silberschneider of "The Red Violin") possesses a vivid imagination and believes everybody is determined to take advantage of him. Rosenberger and Dubler open this wonderful comedy with a Fritz Lang-like bird's eye view long shot of people in a metropolitan city sauntering along on the sidewalks during a storm with their umbrellas deployed. Finn differs from everybody else because he owns an umbrella of an entirely different color. He encounters an obese street beggar and is prepared to offer a contribution when he imagines the fellow celebrating his triumph over his next victim. Although he appears shabby and destitute, the beggar changes in the perspective of our protagonist to a man wallowing in heaping bags of gold. This sequence is the first example of our protagonist's paranoia. Finn changes his mind and gives the beggar something that the latter discards as soon as Finn has departed. Unfortunately, while rummaging around in his pocket, our absent-minded hero loses the equivalent of a five dollar bill. Later, another bystander approaches the beggar, spots the bill on the street, and stuffs it into the beggar's cup.
When he arrives at a restaurant, Finn discovers to his horror that he doesn't have enough cash to afford the delicious spaghetti plate. Just as he did with the street beggar, Finn imagines that the girl behind the counter is a stripper. He conjures up images of her taking advantage of the lusty men. Once our hero does buy his meal, he has to content himself with a plate of soup. Finn gets up and leaves the table. When he returns, Finn finds himself having to share his soup with another man, Jeremy (Toks Körner) who appears to be an African. They take turns spooning out portions of the soup until Jeremy buys them a bowl of spaghetti and the two take turns gobbling down the pasta. At one point, they are sharing one long string of spaghetti that Finn brakes in two pieces. Finn leaves the table because he couldn't find his rolled up umbrella. Suddenly, he notices another table that he had overlooked with his bowl of soup and his umbrella hooked on the table. Meekly, he returns the spaghetti plate to the girl behind the counter and rushes outside in the rain. He catches up with Jeremy and shares his umbrella with him. Evidently, Finn has overcome his paranoia.
This surreal short is constantly inventive, with polished production values, a sympathetic protagonist, compelling performances, and surprises galore. "Spaghetti for Two" deserves all its nominations as well as awards. I could watch this fascinating comedy a hundred times over and never grow tired of it. Part of the brilliance is the conspicuous absence of dialogue. I saw in at the Magnolia Independent Film Festival where I was serving as a judge. Rosenberger and Dubler are clearly a gifted couple of helmers. One of the shrewdest moves they made without complicating the point is removing the dialogue
When he arrives at a restaurant, Finn discovers to his horror that he doesn't have enough cash to afford the delicious spaghetti plate. Just as he did with the street beggar, Finn imagines that the girl behind the counter is a stripper. He conjures up images of her taking advantage of the lusty men. Once our hero does buy his meal, he has to content himself with a plate of soup. Finn gets up and leaves the table. When he returns, Finn finds himself having to share his soup with another man, Jeremy (Toks Körner) who appears to be an African. They take turns spooning out portions of the soup until Jeremy buys them a bowl of spaghetti and the two take turns gobbling down the pasta. At one point, they are sharing one long string of spaghetti that Finn brakes in two pieces. Finn leaves the table because he couldn't find his rolled up umbrella. Suddenly, he notices another table that he had overlooked with his bowl of soup and his umbrella hooked on the table. Meekly, he returns the spaghetti plate to the girl behind the counter and rushes outside in the rain. He catches up with Jeremy and shares his umbrella with him. Evidently, Finn has overcome his paranoia.
This surreal short is constantly inventive, with polished production values, a sympathetic protagonist, compelling performances, and surprises galore. "Spaghetti for Two" deserves all its nominations as well as awards. I could watch this fascinating comedy a hundred times over and never grow tired of it. Part of the brilliance is the conspicuous absence of dialogue. I saw in at the Magnolia Independent Film Festival where I was serving as a judge. Rosenberger and Dubler are clearly a gifted couple of helmers. One of the shrewdest moves they made without complicating the point is removing the dialogue
