Chowboys: An American Folktale
December 24th, 1886, the coldest night of a harsh winter, and around a campfire three men huddle and try to maintain good spirits in the face of the weather, the horses running for shelter and the snow blowing, the tall mountains offering no comfort, hoping to make it through the night and see the light of Christmas morning.
Two of the three men hardy, the third somewhat pampered, his leather gloves protecting his soft hands as he dreams of cake, it is a cold birthday celebration which the others are ill-placed to share, instead passing around wrapped gifts and stories as they shiver, the tale of Saint Nicholas, “the first man to eat another man, to consume his flesh and inherit his soul, his power.”
Written and directed by Adam Brooks, Jeremy Gillespie and Matthew Kennedy, they also star as the titular trio of Chowboys with their Astron-6 associates Steven Kostanski and Jeremy Gillespie performing in supporting roles both on screen and behind the cameras for the short comedy horror shot in Ontario and concerning itself with the true meaning of Christmas.
Surreal and grotesque and shifting in tone from the absurd to the horrific, a pendulum whose uncertain but inevitable swing could arrive at any point around the campfire, there is imaginary cake and a lost minstrel, offering song in exchange for a seat by the fire, not the only thing wandering the snowy forest, and handy logs with which the trio can beat each other unconscious when the effort of camaraderie becomes too much.
Subtitled An American Folktale, with small acts of kindness there is relief found in fantasy when times are terrible, as indeed they are with no certainty of survival until dawn, and when that fails, expressions of violence, as survival of some seems more likely if others are sacrificed in the name of the others, the travellers not the first to have considered cannibalism when faced with a cold and hungry death.
Manners and gratitude and the appreciation of small things and acts of kindness the things which separates man from the animals in the eyes of God and the baby Jesus, as the flames flicker lower and the temperature drops and tempers rise the beasts within emerge, Chowboys a tragedy in ten minutes of rugged manly men of the frontier who faced the end with bravery and a hearty last meal.
Chowboys: An American Folktale is now available on YouTube
