About the production
A modern silent comedy feature in the tradition of Chaplin, Keaton and Tati.
The story
Set in a fictional 1920s European village, My Silent Idiot follows Kev, a lovable man-child who leaves disaster wherever he goes, and Elliott, the uptight stepfather whose carefully ordered life unravels a little more every day, in silent, operatic fury.
Add Warner, a sly market trader with a gift for stealing scenes (and anything else that isn't nailed down), and you have a town heading for one truly catastrophic food fight.
A silent film, made now
No dialogue. Just expressive performances, title cards, a full musical score and big, classic slapstick set-pieces. Think The Artist meets Life Is Beautiful, by way of Laurel & Hardy.
Why now
A century after the talkies arrived, in a world that rarely agrees on anything, silent comedy is still the one language everybody speaks. With no spoken dialogue the film is accessible by design, and its international cast includes actors from the Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities in leading roles.
The production
Shot on location in Europe against heritage period backdrops, with large-scale comic set-pieces and a festival-led release aimed at Cannes, Venice and Berlin.
Themes
Found family and reluctant affection. Order versus chaos. And how laughter crosses every language barrier there is.
