One seldom discussed element of an excellent comedy is the idea of keeping the audience off-balance. One good example of this is filmmaker Azwan’s short film, Farmer Ed.
Ed (E. James Ford) and his wife, Birdie (Samantha Nugent), are a pair of farmers living a very unassuming life. It’s farming by day and rest by night, day after day after day. But, unfortunately, Ed unknowingly becomes bored with his mundane life with Birdie.
One day, while surveying the crops, Ed finds a brain growing on one of his trees. As he heads off to dinner, he can’t help but be drawn by the call of the brain needing rescue. So Ed brings the brain into the barn and nurses it back to health. Before you know it, Ed and the brain are connected. Guess which one soon has control over the other.
“…Ed brings the brain into the barn and nurses it back to health.”
Farmer Ed is a charming, off-beat tale of a farmer who wants a little more out of his life, but at what cost? Two core elements comprise this short film. First is Ed’s growing relationship with the brain and what the brain is able to offer to him (which heads into spoiler territory). The other element is the story from Birdie’s point of view. Nugent stands out. She’s the naive wife who becomes suspicious of Ed’s recent behavior. Now add this brain (voiced by Azwan) that just flips everyone’s world on its head in peculiar and unexpected ways.
It would be a crime not to mention the production value. I assume there’s not a lot of money behind this production, but damn, does the setting look and feel like a real farm. The set designs and costumes are just perfect.
Azwan’s Farmer Ed is one of those shorts whose quirkiness offers a bit of fresh air for this reviewer, who has seen way too many serious dramas over the past few weeks. Thankfully, we can still have fun in ways that make no sense.
For more information about Farmer Ed, visit Azwan’s official website.
"…we can still have fun in ways that make no sense."
