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Protagonist, an excerpt

Protagonist, by Jessica Yu, is an artful documentary about four men who face obstacles, reach a point of crisis and eventually come to a resolution. If this sounds like a classic structure, it is. Heading back a few centuries from Syd Field, director Yu loosely bases her film on Greek tragic structure as represented by ancient playwright Euripides. To visually illustrate this connection to Greek drama, Yu portrays scenes from actual plays—using puppets.

The sequence selected for 90-Second Cinema, which falls a little less than halfway through the film, exemplifies Yu’s usage of puppets to both illustrate and comment upon the character’s narrative. As the sequence opens, Joe, a bank robber, tells us of the thrill he got from his crimes. On-screen, handmade and hand-manipulated puppets act out his story. The high-contrast lighting, simple set and delicate trembling of the bank teller add drama to an already intense story. Later in the sequence, we return to the puppet bank, but this time the puppets are acting out a scene from a Greek tragedy. The puppet representing Joe has become a figure in an ancient, and universal, drama.

- Mattie Akers

Clip courtesy of Kino Lorber.

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Very well made film.Communicating story in 90 seconds and use of puppets is so effective and creative endeavor . I would love to see larger version of this film Protagonist. Is it available on You Tube

Posted on Jul 27, 2010 by amit sen

It is very good. The clops 90sec.expressed to people in social issues is very required for development of human creative.
I have a 60sec. documentary film of persons with differently able person. I will sent to you soon.

Posted on Aug 6, 2010 by L. Amarendra Sharma