A Changed Man

Source: http://www.shortfilmfestival.com/assets/2012/10/A-Changed-Man-1-1024x665.jpg

In the first seminar, we had a short 15 minute screening of a film called 'A Changed Man' (2003) directed by Jens Jonsson. It is a short film that focuses on the protagonist Chris and his emotional struggle for acceptance at his old school reunion party.

Full film link here.

The film begins with Chris in the back of a taxi with the cab driver talking at him as he looks nervous and uncomfortable. He arrives at the school and is anxious about entering the hall where everyone is and he goes into what is assumed to be his old classroom still looking a bit nervous, the connotation being that he didn't have a good time at school. When he enters the hall, he is greeted by a man, Anthony, who we quickly see was a good friend of his and possibly his only friend as Anthony says, "I thought you were going to leave me to the wolves!" There is then the introduction of two antagonists, Harry and Boris, who Anthony is clearly not fond of, however Chris goes straight up to them and tries to speak to them but they are both quite dismissive and rude to him. The connotation here is that these two people disliked or bullied Chris and Anthony back in school and they were seen as the 'cool' ones as Chris tries to befriend them instantly. A woman then appears who greets Boris and Harry happily but doesn't recognise Chris. As he tries to spark up a conversation with her she walks off with the other two causing Chris to walk back over to Anthony and encourage him to meet everyone else in the main hall.
The audience already gets a strong sense of the character Chris as being someone who wants acceptance but is haunted by his past and peoples opinions of him. This theme carries on throughout the film as he tries to convince everyone that he's now an actor and brags about being a changed person and not who he used to be. Everyone still has the same response to him, being dismissive and almost embarrassed to be talking to him up until the climax of the film where he gets very drunk and strips naked for attention causing him to be ejected from the party and taken home by Anthony.

The film is very powerful and somewhat tragic in its message as it highlights the fact that you cannot escape from your past, no matter how much you have changed as a person. It also shows you that you shouldn't try and be someone you're not and not try and fit in with people from a different hierarchy by trying to be the centre of attention. On a lighter note, it also tells us that always know who your true friends are and don't ignore or be ashamed of that because they are the ones who will help you out in your times of need. The relationship between Chris and Anthony is so powerful because of this even though they have a very small amount of interaction between them during the whole film. The ending sequence is really where we see how close these two are and what the value of true friendship is.