Poem or Beauty Hurt’s Mr. Vinal

A poetic look at a 1950s blue collar Brooklyn family striving for the American consumerist dream.

In 1950's South Brooklyn, a blue collar family strives for the American consumerist dream as a veteran reflects on memories of war. This poetic commentary is a look at their struggle for reward in a culture they have fought for and deserve. 

Poem or Beauty Hurts Mr. Vinal is a short film by Michele Gabrielle Clark. The script is based off a poem by Edward Estlin Cummings regarding the state of the American dream. Main character Mr. Vinal returns from war a different man navigating his way back into a life that he once found fulfilling. 

This project is being made with the School of Visual Art's graphic design departments' The Project: Live Action Short Film undergraduate class. Taught by award-winning American filmmaker and director Bob Giraldi, nine graphic design students were chosen by SVA's Advertising and Graphic Design  chair Richard Wilde to write and direct their first short films. 

Poem or Beauty attempts to illustrate the abstract feeling perceived after reading a poem both simple and layered, demanding that the reader dig deep for interpretation. My mother always told me she could never understand poetry, and this shocked me. Even when I didn't understand the exact meanings of a piece, I still experienced some kind of emotional reaction.