CIFF 2011: Fat, Bald, Short Man

The title (mostly) describes the main character, middle-aged Antonio Fanfar (Alvaro Bayona), who works in a notary public's office in Colombia.  The film uses rotoscope animation to depict its characters, with muted background images.  Antonio is shy and meek, and during the course of the story, stands up for himself in small ways.


We can see immediately that Antonio is the sort of man that is often overlooked and taken advantage of by those who are meaner and disinterested.  He deals with a jerk at the office, doesn't complain when he is served the wrong meal at a restaurant, and is passive-aggressively bullied by his brother for loans that are never paid back.

Several people converging upon his life at the same time bring out something in Antonio.  His office gets a new boss, another "fat, bald, short man" who is confident where Antonio is not; a street "hugger" who coerces him to try one of their shyness seminars; a lonely, older neighbor who draws him into conversations.  Through these relationships, Antonio is emboldened to make his existence known to those who ignored him before, including himself.

The minimalist animation style at times had minor facial movements that showed a lot but at other times I don't think was quite expressive enough.  The voice acting was good throughout, and due to this animation I think I paid more attention to the voices.  Antonio was a well-written characterization, with Bayona's voicework showing how meek and unnoticed he had become.  Interactions with the supporting characters were believable for his story.  I also liked the soundtrack, with music and songs by Leonard Bohorquez and Alejandro Quintero.

Included in this screening was a good Q&A with first-time feature director and co-writer Carlos Osuna.  He explained how the movie was filmed twice, once so that actors could be captured and animated, and once again so the backgrounds could be captured and manipulated in a sort. of blurred style.