Kenny

Clip 2: ‘Are you going to hell?’

Taken from the feature Kenny (2006)

Original title classification M – this clip chosen to be PG

Curator’s clip description

Kenny (Shane Jacobson) takes his son Jesse (Jesse Jacobson) to see his grandfather (Ronald Jacobson), at a trailer park outside Melbourne. On the way, Kenny explains to his son why he doesn’t believe in God. At the mobile home, Kenny’s father insists that Kenny take off his overalls and his shoes. The old man is obsessive about cleanliness.

Curator’s notes

The three generations of Kenny’s family are actually played by three generations of Shane and Clayton Jacobson’s family, in a scene that plays closer to tragedy than comedy. Kenny’s father’s obsessive cleanliness is clearly a sign of his advancing years, but it’s also a reflection of his disdain for the work his son does. The old man regards Kenny’s work as ‘not a real job’; the early part of the scene shows us that Kenny’s son is also being brought up to think of his father as worthy of no respect. There’s a whole world of troubled family history communicated in this one sequence, and the film’s depiction of family dysfunction is given far more weight than one expects from a mockumentary.

Paul Byrnes, curator

Teachers’ notes

provided by The Le@rning Federation

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This clip shows Kenny (Shane Jacobson), a plumber for a portable toilet company, taking his son (Jesse Jacobson) to visit his father (Ronald Jacobson). Kenny gives down-to-earth answers when his son asks about his atheism, prompted by Kenny’s ex-wife’s opinions. At his father’s mobile home, Kenny’s good nature and pride in his work are tested by his father’s attitude to the job and his obsessive cleanliness (he insists that Kenny change his clothes and put his feet on mats). Kenny remains even-tempered and expects his son to show respect for his grandfather.

Educational value points

This clip is from a ‘mockumentary’, a film that uses documentary techniques to tell a fictitious story. Mockumentaries are non-factual documentaries intended to parody, critique or deconstruct popular culture and discourse by faking the conventions of documentary films. This clip is a good example of the genre as it employs conventions such as actuality footage and what appears to be Kenny’s response to an interview question, heard here as a voice-over.

The naturalistic elements in the clip lend realism to the fictional characters. Much of the authenticity is gained from the characters being played by members of a real-life family, but it is also found in the naturalism of their performances, their broad accents and idiomatic dialogue. The trying situation in the car in which Kenny honestly answers his son’s leading question about God while muttering his irritable asides to himself is conveyed with a genuine naturalness.

Using a small hand-held digital video (DV) camera can create greater intimacy between viewers and the characters. Although often used when the budget is limited, as was the case for this film, small DV cameras can unobtrusively create an intense and immediate view of the action. This allows for shots that would be otherwise extremely difficult and cumbersome to achieve, such as the interplay in one continuous shot of Kenny and his son in the car.

The content and placement of Kenny’s voice-over establishes his father’s character and narrative function. The voice-over, in which Kenny appears to be thinking aloud about his father’s objections to his career choice, is laid over footage of Kenny and his son walking towards his father’s mobile home. That sets up Kenny’s relationship with his father who is tense and fussy and thus encourages the viewer to find pathos and comedy in their shared scenes.

The abrupt cut in the footage from the mention of the gown to Kenny’s wearing of it provides a good example of how comedy can be derived from editing. The cut misdirects viewers’ expectations, eliciting surprise and amusement. Following from Kenny’s protests the viewer is surprised to see him instantly wearing the gown. The cut draws added attention to the bad fit of the gown, especially after his father’s reassurance that it would be suitable.

The nature of Kenny’s relationship with his son is simply and effectively presented when they sing their adulterated version of the national anthem as they drive. While the singing provides a temporal structure to the journey, in that it creates the impression of time passing, it primarily serves as a symbolic device to portray Kenny’s uninhibited, good-natured and loving parenting and his son’s positive, enthusiastic response.