IFS Underground #15

Whatever you think this film is going to be, it isn't. It's a lot of different things, all at once. It's beautiful and vulnerable, but it's also vaguely menacing and melancholy. It's fragile, but seems eager to shatter itself against the viewer. Its intimately beautiful imagery is juxtaposed against a soundtrack that alternates between being foreboding, and openly hostile. And it works perfectly. The whole piece has a kind of haunted quality to it. As though you could pause at any point, and catch the shadow of a ghost sliding across the frame. I would say that any still frame could be printed and hung in an art gallery, but that statement would do a disservice to the meticulous editing, that seems to be as much a character in the film as the couple it depicts. The images jerk, and stutter, and fade, and break apart. That seems completely appropriate, given the story. It was a brilliant creative decision, in my opinion. It's a difficult film to watch, but in the best possible way. And when it's over, it leaves you feeling a little haunted, yourself.