A Changed Man

Opening Scene, A changed Man 

A Changed Man is a short film directed by Jens Jonsson that follows Chris at his school reunion as he tries to achieve social recognition from his former classmates.

The film starts with Chris sitting nervously in a back of a taxi while the taxi driver mumbles about how proud he is of his kids and the smell of rubber. Its clear that Chris isn’t too interested and the thought of heading back to school is bringing back some difficult memories that Chris might not be ready to deal with. When he arrives at the school he walks through the corridors and pauses at the door before heading into the room full of people. To me this pause is the inciting incident as Chris has a choice to walk away or walk through the doors and thrust the film in a new direction. As he walks through the door he talks to a man called Tony his only real friend in the film, however Chris isn’t too interested in what Tony has to say and is more bothered about impressing fellow peers who didn’t give him much time at school by telling them about his dreams about becoming actor. The film switches tone when the Boris and Harry arrive, the school bullies and its clear them and Chris have a little bit of history as they barley analogy his existence.  When they meet in the toilets they mock him about been gay, the film isn’t clear if he is or isn’t but would explain why Chris feels like he doesn’t fit in and feels he needs acceptance from his former classmates.

The film reaches its midpoint, when Chris downs a glass of wine and makes his way to the dance floor but people quick avoid him and takes they seats, showing us a physical representation of how Chris is rejected by his classmates.   Chris strives for attention, when the two bullies come over and start poring beer over he sees that as just a little bit of fun and is oblivious that it’s the bullies trying to make him look stupid. As a result of having beer thrown over him he starts to strip, he abuses this attention and mistakes it as acceptance from his classmates. In the end Chris is carried out by the two bullies who shout abuse at him as he layers on the floor before Toney help him to his feet and wraps a coat around him.

I found the film quite difficult to watch, as I didn’t care too much for the characters especially Chris, as the pain in some ways is self inflicted. All he wants is to be accepted by people who couldn’t care less about him, yet he has a true friend in Tony who he doesn’t care about, as Chris thinks he can do better.