Locarno Review: Punter (2024)
Locarno Film Festival
Pardi di Domani International Competition
Pre-teen Brett (Tago Marques) is trying to surprise his father Harris (Bouwer Bosch) with an ice cream cake that he buys secretly when they both stop at a local store. His big wish is to spend the day with his estranged parent, whose mind unfortunately is somewhere else. Without as much as giving thought to use the opportunity to bond with his son, the man is feverishly dragging him to a gambling dan with the pretext of something he urgently needs to do. “It will take only five minutes”, he claims. The duration of their stay will surpass the mentioned time and overstay the boy’s patience needless to say.
In his Pardi di Domani international competition entry Punter, Jason Adam Maselle revisits a part of his childhood in, what he calls “a cinematic attempt to confront and celebrate the complicated love he has for his father and his country.” There is no bitterness in his way of presenting the chain of events in this touching account of one man’s struggle with gambling addiction, and his son’s wish to get him out of the vicious circle for the sole purpose of celebrating the man’s round, 40th birthday.
Marques proves to be the ideal cast for the role of Brett, a loving, caring young boy who is torn between the feeling of helplessness and his unconditional love for his father. Clutching the cake packed in a box, he is alert at every sign of creeping danger that his parent oversees in his gambling frenzy. It is not just about the kid’s ability to deliver dialogues, which he does without failing to be convincing, but his whole being is invested in the part with complete dedication. Watch out for that name!
For someone like myself who comes from the part of the world which is obsessed with the shortcut to wealth due to its long problematic history, the parallel Maselle is making between the gambling environment and hopes for a better future seems only logical. Gamblers are united through their addiction, regardless of age, gender or race, their only hope being scoring that one big win which will change their lives for the better, and possibly – forever. The bets are being placed by literally everyone, and even children can make their way to the bookie if the connection is right.
Observing the lives of underdogs without romanticizing their vices is a hard card to pull out of the sleeve both in a script and on the big screen, and if there is someone who knows a thing or two about it is Punter‘s executive producer Spike Lee who had shown a keen eye for a diverse community with people of different cultures, race, and even languages and individual perspectives from that melting pot in his long filmmaking career. If we can speak of differences between the two directors’ approaches to the heavy-weight subject is the use of the tropes. There is no hint of comedy in Maselle’s warm, but hard-to-go-through film. His exploration of the father-son relationship is finely balanced, sober and non-judgemental.
It is a great fortune to have Bosch playing a different role from the ones he was cast in before. Finally allowed to rise above his TV and “man drinks at the bar” appearances, he shines as the man who could be someone different if he only knew how.
Punter is a film of profound intelligence, crafted with love and desire to give a second chance to his two main protagonists to start all over. There are no easy answers in life, which is what Jason Adam Maselle is telling us with his beautifully written script splashed over the screen in believable colours.
Dominated by one and two shots dealt by William Douglas, the film is led by the sense of immediate closeness to the boy and his father. Punter is a short that deserves international recognition, and a long run in the festival circuit.
Original Title: Punter
Countries: South Africa/ USA
Language: English, Afrikaans, Isixhosa
Year: 2024
Runtime: 13′ 53”
Written/ Directed by: Jason Adam Maselle
Producers: Noam Argov, Jason Adam Maselle, Rethabile Mothobi
Executive Producer: Spike Lee
DoP: William Douglas
Production Designer: Daniella Dagnin
Casting: Mvelisi Mvandaba
Cast: Tiago Marques, Bouwer Bosch, Nyaniso Dzedze
