Gol Maal (EOTWS)

End Of The Week Shorts #47 extract: Gol Maal (1979)

Gol Maal is an absurd comedy that, as its title suggests, is about Mayhem. However, there is a little more beneath this film than some nutty slapstick and insane coincidence. 

Exploring what you may call the duality of self, Gol Maal sees numerous characters pretend to be two people, not by inventing a new person, but by splitting their true self into two different people. A playful sports-loving musician who has studied hard for an accounting degree then has to sell himself as just dedicated to work to his boss before having to pretend the other half of him is just a twin. This care-free twin falls in love with the boss' daughter. The commentary here is quite clear: traditional values do not have to die for the young to be free, and nor should older generations try to decimate youthfulness. The worthwhile youth are not a projection of an elder's desire, but a mediation between the past and the future, the old and the new. And so, maybe there is a lesson that tradition and the elders can learn from them.