For his second short in the Family Portraits trilogy - Home - writer/ director Douglas Buck tones down the guignol to come up with something far more grand.
We’re introduced to another suburban family in dire straits. Dad seems to be slowly cracking up at work, unable to live up to the pressures of being an upright family man. What pressure? All he has to do is go to work, come home and act distant. It’s the American way; and through flashbacks we see he’s only trying to live up to his dad’s good example.
In measured takes we witness his believable inner turmoil, and the near-silent suffering of the man’s wife and daughter. When things finally head south, the outwardly pointless inevitability is all the more devastating for its economical set-up.
Obviously Home is no feel-good family drama, but it’s missing the geek-show spectacle of predecessor Cutting Moments, and that’s for the better. Home cuts more deeply, and its gut-punch finale makes you want to hug those close to you and promise never to go crazy.
In Douglas Buck’s America, going crazy is the only natural thing to do. His cautionary tales inspire and demand vigilance against the suburban dream gone sour. A man’s home is not his castle, nor his family servants or prisoners.
The special edition Family Portraits: A Trilogy Of America DVD includes dual commentary tracks for Home, Cutting Moments and Prologue, a track by the director and a track by different critics and professors of note. The flip-side of the DVD presents the three shorts in consecutive order as a full-length feature, though I don’t see this as any particular benefit to the work. Also on the flip-side are a number of extra goodies including a student film by Buck.
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| Weird suggestive imagery sets an uncomfortable tone. |
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| The fruit don't fall too far from the vine. |
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| Bloody slacks make the man. |