Martin Rit's 'La neige au village' is a very intriguing work, maybe not as fascinating as a film by David Lynch but not unworthy of the master.
In this short (quite long in fact: 48 minutes), there is neither snow (Provence basking in the sun is the actual setting) nor a village (this is Aix-en-Provence, a big town in the South of France). The three main characters are both victims (a female student being harassed by a young red-haired man; the red-haired man being a victim of his own impulses and frustrations; a third young man a victim of boredom) and torturers (the girl follows her follower who is in turn shadowed by the the bored young man). There is no catharsis in the end: the spectator is left as baffled as he was at the beginning. It is sure unpleasant for the girl to be the unwitting target of a man who might be a pervert but why does she start following him on the sly instead of lodging a complaint or facing him? Likewise the ginger boy could be the threatening pervert the two other characters assume he is but isn't he simply a sensitive young man who does not know how to come on to a girl? As for the other young man, why does he leave his own girlfriend only to roam the streets idly? Does he want to protect the student? seduce her? watch the other boy in the act of raping the girl?
Nothing is sure perhaps because the characters - and just like us spectators! - have all these tendencies within themselves. And their - our! - lives will vary according to whether or not they - we! - will pander to their -our! - darker side.
A well-made film, suspenseful at times, well interpreted by three very natural actors, making good use of local locations, that gives food for thought. Recommended.
In this short (quite long in fact: 48 minutes), there is neither snow (Provence basking in the sun is the actual setting) nor a village (this is Aix-en-Provence, a big town in the South of France). The three main characters are both victims (a female student being harassed by a young red-haired man; the red-haired man being a victim of his own impulses and frustrations; a third young man a victim of boredom) and torturers (the girl follows her follower who is in turn shadowed by the the bored young man). There is no catharsis in the end: the spectator is left as baffled as he was at the beginning. It is sure unpleasant for the girl to be the unwitting target of a man who might be a pervert but why does she start following him on the sly instead of lodging a complaint or facing him? Likewise the ginger boy could be the threatening pervert the two other characters assume he is but isn't he simply a sensitive young man who does not know how to come on to a girl? As for the other young man, why does he leave his own girlfriend only to roam the streets idly? Does he want to protect the student? seduce her? watch the other boy in the act of raping the girl?
Nothing is sure perhaps because the characters - and just like us spectators! - have all these tendencies within themselves. And their - our! - lives will vary according to whether or not they - we! - will pander to their -our! - darker side.
A well-made film, suspenseful at times, well interpreted by three very natural actors, making good use of local locations, that gives food for thought. Recommended.
