23 Mar 2012

Tashtastic ★★★☆☆



Review of 'Tashtastic' which can be found here or on the official website here.

Length: 03:41
Directed by Tessa Morgan
Genre: Documentary
Date: 2007
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Logline: Following a debut at the worlds biannual World Beard and Moustache Championships.

There's probably not many of us who've heard of this unique event but this is yet another interesting topic which provides just a tantalising glimpse without exploring the subject matter as in depth as you'd like. Following just one participant, Keith (AKA Gandhi Jones, or Ghandi as Morgan spells it in the credits), who gives a brief overview of the whole competition, its different categories, mentions the Handlebar Club and Team beard USA, and we get a fleeting glimpse of guest judge Nick Cave. I know I groan about short films being too long all the time, but this is one that definitely could have been longer.

A lot of the filler shots look hurried, as if trying to quickly catch an unexpected moment before it disappears again. There are many snippets of the wide and wonderful range of facial hair styles out there which is good to see but camerawork is quite shaky and lighting's not terribly good in parts. Although Keith is entertaining, I felt that too much time was spent with him. I'd seen his moustache and wanted to move on to others and hear from some of the other veteran members. Towards the end, it would have been more than acceptable to have used Keith's voice over on top of other visuals.

There was little in the way of dramatic editing either. Keith comes over from Seattle, enters the freestyle competition, then wins it. So there's none of the reality TV forced conflict or drama that we're used too and (although I hate all that stuff any ways) this is left a little flat and dry without it. Keith's run down of the event after it has happened could probably have been put in before the winner announcement for example.

Overall, great subject matter, poor execution and planning gives the film a not quite satisfied feel.

Best Bit: Tons of weird beards.

Worst Bit: Too much of Keith.

Final thought: I should've kept this review for Movember, but hey ho.

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

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