No laughing matter: a scene from Paulette James’ Enter the Preacher
Ironic humour more to your liking? Then feel free to laugh (ironically, of course) during the dramatic feature, Horn of Plenty, in which director Juan Carlos Tabío spins the tale of people being driven slightly nutty by the thought of instant wealth. Note: if this film had an Ingredients label, morality would definitely be on there, somewhere near the top. If you’re looking for pathos-infused humour that speaks of race and class and the human condition, then check out the Kalup Linzy videos that will be screened at StudioFilmClub on September 17. Linzy reinvents classic Soap Opera plots, but instead of tracking the lives of the white and upwardly-mobile, he follows the black inhabitants of a small, Southern-U.S. town. The fact that Linzy plays some of these rolls himself in drag (and voices all of the characters) is just one of the funny elements of this body of work, which one film critic describes as Faulkner by way of Tyler Perry.
