When you’re in love, you do crazy things…like pre-mature proposals. This is the case in The Proposal from Norway’s Det Sporadiske Filmkollektivet.
This six-minute short opens on a small modest motorboat on a beautiful lake. At the magic hour, Joachim gets down on one knee and proposes to Toril, the woman of his dreams. In an instant, Toril responds, “are you shitting me?”
“…Joachim gets down on one knee and proposes…Toril responds, ‘are you shitting me?’”
From here The Proposal is a hilarious exercise in escalation. First, the motor on the boat won’t start and their stuck. Toril rows them back to the dock as Joachim is now distraught and useless. Then there are the friends gathered at the pier for the celebration…which there is no celebrating to be had. To make matters worse, the ferry back to the mainland ended for the night, and Toril is stuck with her loser boyfriend. This is only a small part of the problems.
The idea is simple, the jokes are funny. The short is not a jokey SNL-type sketch comedy but played wonderfully with earnest sincerity. The Proposal will make you cringe and laugh and cringe and feel sorry for a complete loser.
The Proposal (2018) Presented by Det Sporadiske Filmkollektivet. The Proposal made its California Premiere at the 2019 Palm Springs ShortFest.
8 out of 10 stars
