The Licensed Fool
2023 · 17m · UK
Directed by Gareth Bowen
Tones: absurdist, dark, surreal
A travelling court jester in 1500s England begins to unravel when he discovers a sinister motive behind his hiring for an upcoming performance before the Monarch, finding himself the target of a very long-winded joke that may cost him everything.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Medieval jester shot like a 70s zoom-lens fever dream with Pit Bukowski — okay, NOW I'm listening. This is the kind of grimy formal swing that makes shorts worth watching, even if it falls apart.
Bowen's gambit, shooting the 1500s through a 1970s zoom-lens grammar, is precisely the sort of anachronistic formal gesture that signals authorial seriousness, recalling Pasolini's medieval cycle filtered through Ben Wheatley. Pit Bukowski's casting deepens my interest.
16:53 on the Short of the Week channel, and the unusual-element claim — period setting shot to feel like a found 1970s artifact via zoom lenses — is the kind of formal commitment that either fully reframes a medieval comedy or feels like a stunt. Pit Bukowski is a smart cast choice for the unraveling.
Reviews
A medieval fever dream turned nightmare, The Licensed Fool is as gritty as it is beautiful to watch, with a grotesque sense of humor that perfectly captures the sentiment of the times.
There's a Safdie Brothers aesthetic to Gareth Bowen's new short The Licensed Fool. Despite the film being set in a Medieval past, it carries that gritty, textured look that we've come to expect from New York's brightest filmmakers.
Festivals
- Rhode Island International Film Festival, Best Screenplay
- London Short Film Festival
- Aesthetica Short Film Festival
- Bolton Film Festival