Cherzoso The Silent Film

When Sherry dons the greasepaint for her performance for the night as the clown Cherzoso, at the circus, she is in high spirits. We see the determination of a dedicated artist out to perform to the best of her ability and entertain her audience. And true to her character, she returns with cheer and accolades from her audience. Once back in the greenroom, Sherry gets a commission for the night, as an escort. Her boss informs her that a customer who has paid in advance is waiting for her services. While she is preparing for her night job, she engages in a conversation with herself that takes her down memory lane. She reminisces the good times with her sister Stella and the first time the two had wine together. She realizes that times have changed many things in her life and that now she is not someone whom she is proud of now. So can the conscience of her sister help her with her life? Does she listen to her sister’s advice? These are the questions that we find answers to in this melancholy short.

‘Cherzoso The Silent Film’ is a short film from Director Tracy Ann Chapel. In this engaging narrative, lasting no more six short minutes, the director through her intense performance, handholds us through the entire life of Sherry. We learn of the different hats she dons, in her toil to provide for her family, some of which even she is ashamed of. In the backdrop of this emotionally demanding theme, the director also manages to lighten the mood, with memories of the sweet innocence of an age bygone. ‘Cherzoso The silent film’ gets the authentic ‘look’ of a black and white production from the silent movie era, and the feel of an on-stage performance captured on film.

As Sherry walks off the screen with a gun in her hand, determined to change the way she lives her life henceforward, we are left wondering if she has given enough thought about her son, before shattering the image she has propped up before him.