Blogpost 6: O Palhaçio

The Clown (o Palhaçio) a film by Selton Mello who directs, writes, edits and acts in The Clown. He plays Benjamin, a sad clown working with his clown father, Waldemar, in a roaming circus across a scenic Brazilian countryside. His job is to make people laugh, although when the clown act is over, his quiet serious side overtakes him.

Flipping through some of the information about clown film, I turn out into an article entitled, “Clown with a Frown” written by Pat in the site, “Cinema Blographer”. The article caught my attention because of the fact that the clown who makes people laugh, is actually don’t know how to laugh. How ironic right?

The article talks about the clown searching his place in the world. It states that Benjamin, the clown with a frown, deliberately makes people laugh. It must be the reason why his disposition changes after their show, because he probably seeking for something or expecting something to come true. There’s little hope for Benjamin as he dreams of a life of smiles and chuckles.

This appealing, light-hearted dramedy, probes identity and the road to self-acceptance. The Circo Esperança (Circus Hope) stroll the valleys and mountains of southwestern Brazil. Among its collection of dissidents are the father/son clown duo of Pangaré (Mangy Horse) and Puro Sangue (Thoroughbred), who make a living making people laugh. In one climatic scene, Pangaré asks, “I make people laugh, but who will make me laugh?” His father responds, “In life we have to do what we know how to do.” By getting the seemingly meaningless moments that make up life in a family or small community, Selton Mello awaken a special time and space and makes it  recognizable - even if you've never been part of a fascinating circus.

Benjamin depicted every man’s journey to achieve his goals. We are miserable when they are far away, we try to catch them failing to remember about other important things, and then, when we finally get to have them, we can’t be contented, for the losses we have endured in order to catch the dreams. So we go back to our past lives having learned lesson of being fulfilled with what we have, just like Benjamin did.

Like everyone else, we all have clowns in ourselves and that’s what the article, “Looking For Your Clown.... And Finding Yourself” written by Bertil Sylvander, adapted and translated from the French by Vivian Gladwell in the site, “Nose to Nose” ,talked about. The article discussed why and how does searching our clown allow personal development and a move towards self-awareness.

The article mentioned that “clown is essentially an emotional being”. They feel and set their emotions as well as we do, the only difference is that they listen into their hearts and do what it says without any hesitations if it's the right thing to do. Also, it stated that “clowns live the now of every second” which means that they value more on what is present without preoccupying with what comes next. “Deep down, clown is a vulnerable being” which means that they are not afraid to show who they really are,they are not ashamed to be themselves. And most of all, it is through searching our own clown when we can find our true self, where we can express our thoughts and ideas, having a secure environment for expression.

Clowns also enter the World of Film and Cinema. The most common is to scare and frighten us but there are some in which we can relate with and apply what we had learned through them. But at the end of the day, ‘they’ always leave an impression that might/will change the way we see life.