HollyShorts Special 5 - Bleeder Review
“Just do what you came here for” – Gary
As the title suggests, Bleeder, which has its world premiere at HollyShorts is on the surface a violent film that some might find hard to watch. But that assessment would be superficial at best. This film has a rewarding depth to it that will linger in the viewer’s mind long after the credits have rolled.
Gary is a man who earns a living by allowing others to beat him physically for money. Brutality seems to be the only thing Gary knows, as he is furtively handed addresses on cards, telling his where to show up for his next appointment.
Bleeder might well refer to Gary’s bruised, battered and cut outward appearance, but writer/director Jeremy Max puts a lot more into Gary’s character than merely being a two-dimensional wretched punching bag for people he could easily take out. In the role of Gary is ex-boxer “The Derry Destroyer” John Duddy who gives a performance that will instantly elicit the audience’s sympathy.
Gary is trying to outrun his own inner turmoil. Effectively, the title of Bleeder can just as easily refer to Gary’s own emotional bleeding for the daughter he lost in a car crash a year earlier. Duddy’s performance and Max’s direction result in a stunning portrayal of a self-destructive man, in crushing despair trying to numb his inner agony with actual physical pain. Or, it is also suggested that as he blames himself for her death, he believes that the pain and humiliation he’s enduring is all he deserves now. All his sense of self worth went with the trauma of his loss.
Filmed in Max’s native New York, this film is captivating from the opening shot, and Duddy’s performance is nothing short of mesmerising. Supporting him in the role of his wife is Natalie Roy, who not only has to endure her own grief, is also having to watch her husband fade away to a hollow shell.
Bleeder is a haunting character study of people dealing with grief, its effects and the lengths they’ll go to in order to try and cope. It raises difficult questions that need to be asked about trauma and its effect on the masculine psyche and the redemptive journey the sufferers take.
There are no easy answers.
Rob Rating = 9