The Spectacle Maker: A Technicolor Trip You Probably Forgot Existed

Is it worth your time?

If you like your period dramas served with a side of bizarre, surrealist magic and colors that practically scream at you, you’ll dig this. People who prefer their stories grounded in logic or, heaven forbid, actual character development should probably look elsewhere. It’s a weird little artifact.

Honestly, watching The Spectacle Maker feels a bit like stumbling into a museum exhibit that came to life while you weren't looking. The Technicolor is so thick it feels like you're staring into a bowl of very expensive, very bright fruit punch. It’s striking, but it’s a lot to take in at once.

The story? Well, it’s a parable about these magic glasses. You put them on, and suddenly you’re seeing the 'truth' behind people’s faces—or at least what the movie thinks is the truth. It gets moralistic real quick, but the visuals are so distracting you barely notice the heavy-handedness. Almost.

There is this one scene where a character is trying on the glasses, and the camera just lingers on his reaction for way too long. I found myself checking my watch, wondering if the film reel had gotten stuck or if the director just really liked the way the guy’s eyebrows twitched. It’s that kind of movie.

It’s funny how a short film can feel both incredibly rushed and yet strangely sluggish. It’s not quite as chaotic as Alice's Balloon Race, but it has that same frantic energy of someone trying to explain a dream they had right before they wake up.

Odd bits and pieces:

• The costumes are so ornate they look like they’re trying to swallow the actors whole.
• The music swells at moments that feel totally random, almost like it’s being played by an orchestra that’s watching the movie for the first time along with you. 🎺
• You can really tell they were proud of that Technicolor process. Every shadow is colored. Even the dust feels like it was painted by a set decorator who hadn't slept in three days.
• If you’ve seen Billy the Kid, you’ll know that style doesn’t always save a weak script, but here, the style is pretty much the entire point.

It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not even really a movie in the way we usually talk about them. It’s more like a visual experiment that someone decided to hand-color just to see if it would work. I’m glad I watched it, but I’m also pretty sure I don’t need to watch it again. Sometimes, that’s enough. ✨