It’s impossible not to crack a smile at the end of LABEL, which dares the viewer not to laugh at it. Two women–Mary Krasnoperova and Kira Mathis–sit around and complain about the world and the amount of time it takes to drink coffee versus smoking a cigarette.

At first, the acting from Krasnoperova and Mathis carry it. Marktanner’s direction helps, he and cinematographer Julian Rosenkranz take the shots seriously, even though he’s alternating between three or maybe four. The conversation’s okay enough for a while. Frankly, the colored subtitles are way too distracting and lead to examining the crispness of the video.

Things start getting a little draining–the conversation’s just funny, not deep at all and not related to linguistics (though I don’t speak German, so who knows)–but the epilogue brings it all together.

LABEL’s short, obscene, amusing. Marktanner knows how to tell a joke.

Recommended

CREDITS

Written, directed, edited and produced by Jaschar L Marktanner; director of photography, Julian Rosenkranz; music by Lukas Grepel.

Starring Mary Krasnoperova (Pansen) and Kira Mathis (Schluppe).