Only Make Believe

Only Make Believe Live action and TV/video collage. Running time 12 minutes. Synopsis A couple who resemble the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are hustled into a room by a terrorist where they join a working class couple. After a period of deference to the “Royals” the other couple become dominant. Is all this real? Who knows? Story outline A man and a woman (Betty and Phil) are standing face to the wall of the living room with their hands above their heads. The door bursts open and a masked figure hustles in a man and a woman (Madge and Ell) who look very like the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. The gunman leaves immediately. The two couples are obviously captive and unable to leave. They pass the time in conversation, playing games like Monopoly and cards, and singing. We get a fragment of the chorus of the song “Only Make Believe,” that gives the film its name. The couples engage in fragmentary dialogue, and various information is revealed about each. Time passes and they become more casual, rough even, with each other. Phil and Betty have been deferential to the “Royals,” but after an incident, Ell and Madge become subservient to them. The terrorist bursts into the room, orders Madge and Ell against the wall and orders the other couple out of the room. The last shot is of Madge and Ell sitting on the sofa looking fearfully and blankly ahead, amidst the squalor of their existence.

Skeptyricon
Director:
Ronald Forbes
Year:
2014
Country:
United Kingdom
Genre:
Drama
Length:
12'
Photography:
Ian Forbes