Time to take a blast from the past. Witness this Saturday night one-woman spectacular variety show, featuring the one and only Sissy St. Claire! Director Amanda Kramer released a beautiful 80s style feature film called ‘Give Me Pity!’, making its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), which runs from January 26 to February 6, 2022
Sissy St. Claire (played by Sophie von Haselberg) is a young performer who finally got her spotlight on a Saturday night special to grace the small screen in her very own one-woman variety show, called ‘Give Me Pity’ (same name as the movie title). Just like a traditional variety show, you got the monologues, singing and dancing performances, sketches, and everything in between. All of this is complimented with a “live audience” to support the performances with applause and laughter spots for each segment.
Director Amanda Kramer pulls out all the stops on bringing back the 1980s nostalgia from the shiny sequin clothing, bright neon colours, the puffy hairstyles, played on an analogue television screen. The cinematography truly captures the 80s era of television, shot in 4:3 letterbox format, with shader overlays, lens flares and shiny reflections bouncing off the lights, and expert colouring to bring out the analogue television effect the world once had.
The transition between segments is spot on in how the vintage variety shows were shot. For example, when a segment ends, the audience applause and music tracks are playing and the camera pans away to follow an object like the disco ball, then fades away to a still photo of Sissy’s posed headshot with the traditional phrase “Sissy will be right back!”. The amount of camera time given to this is just as important as the segments in the variety show, and the director made sure this was captured in her film.
Variety shows are not complete without lavish costumes and set design. Let’s talk about the stage first. The set pieces on stage are carefully crafted with even the finest details taken into consideration to compliment Sissy’s performances. Each segment had specific props on stage that were simple but effective for each performance that does not take away from the focus of Sissy. As for costumes, they are bright (and eventually dark) with fancy jewelry, big wigs, with a big personality working with the characters that wear them.
With all the tropes and fun details that establish the vintage 80s era of variety shows, the plot of the film is the main event. The nostalgia does not disrupt its narrative, which is very important for the purpose of this feature. The beginning of the movie was to help establish the era, so that the narrative can use it as a parody of the variety show format and give it a darker spin as the plot progresses. It no longer becomes a feel-good variety show, and begins turning into a musical nightmare.
Each segment created more questions of what is going on in Sissy’s head as she outwardly expresses her uncomfortable delusions to the live audience. She appears to be provoked by thoughts of a mysterious man who seems to be stalking her near the sidelines of the stage she is performing on. Every time the masked man appears, the film turns into a strange psychedelic trip of neon ripple effects emphasizing the paranoia Sissy is experiencing.
Sophie von Halsberg’s is incredibly talented in portraying Sissy St. Claire. Sophie really nailed all the scenes giving the right amount of pacing in the character development of Sissy. Sissy’s character was able to start off a bit of light comedy then twist it with self-deprecating performances that makes this more of a thriller.
These dark undertones begin to show what the variety show has done to Sissy. Her character displayed the desperation to seek for admiration and attention from others in order to validate her as a performer, revealing the insecurities within herself. With all the glitz and glamour and the big opportunity to finally shine, Sissy turns into a self-hated portrait of herself.
‘Give Me Pity!’ is both an entertaining movie that can really make you feel uncomfortable at times while watching Sissy’s character development. The film consistently maintains its 80s aesthetic throughout which truly adds to the thriller experience. The dark themes of self-loathing and self-destruction of one’s ambitions are well executed and is one worth watching how the variety show closes off.