Chelsea Lupkin
Passion Gap by writer/director duo Matt Portman and Jason Donald is one of those rare films that make you realize that the human condition is more than a struggle for many and that life across the world isn’t as familiar as you thought it would be. Set against the backdrop of Cape Town, South Africa, the film follows a young woman named Elani who wants nothing more than to escape the city and her past for good. The short explores violence against women, cultural claustrophobia, and the social implications of passion gaps, the film’s namesake.
Focusing on a protagonist with a history of violence in her life, Portman and Donald’s filmmaking provokes a visceral experience of pain and fear. From the first scene in which we witness her father’s temper against her mother and sister, to the film’s explicit ending wherein we see her perspective as violence is directed toward her.
A narrative that portrays a woman’s place beneath men, as a spectator you feel as trapped as Elani does. There’s a particular encounter in the women’s lavatory where a stranger tells her, “Every girl should have a very good plan”. The underlying meaning to this statement speaks volumes. While you can’t help but cringe at her relationship with egotistical drug dealer, Mikey, you can understand the lengths Elani is willing to go to escape her hometown by staying with him. Choice is therefore an illusion for her.
Beyond the stylish neon lighting and the unique South African dialect, the film also explores something called a “passion gap”. Admittedly, I had never heard of it before and as the film progressed so did my fascination with it. A foreign and seemingly absurd trend, a passion gap is a dental modification originating in the Cape Flats section of Cape Town, South Africa in which people deliberately remove the top front teeth for fashion and status. Passion gaps are believed to improve oral sex and kissing, while also symbolizing gangsterism. Dating a wannabe gangster, it’s no wonder that Elani is constantly peer pressured to have her teeth removed indirectly or directly throughout the story. An outsider in the only city she has ever lived in, her absence of a passion gap isolates her that much more and calls attention to her place in society.
By the time you finishing watching the film, you may feel a phantom pain in your jaw. Portman and Donald received such a profound international reaction surrounding passion gaps that they are now busy shooting a feature length documentary called Cap Flat Smile about the subject. The feature will also feature a few actors from the production of Passion Gap diving into the cultural phenomenon of their lives.