Short of the Week

Play
Drama Chris King

Birthday

When a young military wife gets news that her Marine husband has been severely wounded in combat, she discovers that life ahead for them is going to be a difficult, yet amazing journey.

Play
Drama Chris King

Birthday

When a young military wife gets news that her Marine husband has been severely wounded in combat, she discovers that life ahead for them is going to be a difficult, yet amazing journey.

Birthday

Directed By Chris King
Produced By Watermark Films
Made In USA

To generalize, films about the American military often tend to be a bit overly-sentimental. But, Chris King’s Birthday manages to avoid this pitfall, taking a topic that could have easily been too weepy and instead crafting something with honest emotional resonance and stakes. It’s a story that we’ve seen often in headlines—one that is commonly adorned with rah rah “support our troops” cheers and bombastic, heart-tugging music. This portrayal—told from a young wife’s perspective—thankfully feels far more honest than that. It’s personal, nuanced, and authentic.

I can confirm this authenticity due to my own personal experiences. My best friend—someone I’ve known since I was 11—suffered a very similar injury to that of the fictional soldier in the film while on tour in Afghanistan in 2010. It’s something that’s affected me so much that I’ve made two short documentary films about the subject—one about his recovery and the other about the incredible feats he has accomplished since. So, in full disclosure, when it comes to this particular film I’m most certainly a biased curator. While Birthday perhaps lacks a driving sense of conflict and relies a bit too heavily on montage, it’s hard for me to be critical of a filmmaker who is telling the stories of our American troops in a polished, smart, and nonpartisan way. This isn’t a film with an agenda. And, in turn, it’s all the more powerful because of it.

Festival audiences clearly agreed. Birthday made an impressive tour of some big players from Tribeca to the Cleveland International Film Festival. It’s a sentimental crowd-pleaser—a film that puts hope before grief in its depiction of the recovery process. It’ll make you cry. But, I promise, you’ll feel damn good doing it.

Birthday2

As director Chris King (a veteran himself) relates via e-mail: “I wanted to make a short tribute to our wounded veterans.  Not pro-war, not anti-war.  Just a simple story about a couple following a traumatic injury and all of the challenges and triumphs that come with it.  Not a cheesy, melodramatic ribbons-and-bows tale of overcoming adversity, rather a documentary-style film as we see moments the general public doesn’t normally see.”

As we celebrate Memorial Day here in the United States, I can’t think of a more fitting film to feature on Short of the Week.

To keep up to date with King’s past, present, and future work, you can visit his website. He’s currently finishing a short film about the early life of legendary actress and comedienne Carol Burnett.