|
“One day you see the tree. Walk up to it, pluck the fruit and squeeze it out.” Poetic exhortations like that are whispered in a tentative voice, and sometimes presented in harsh white lines of texts as well. “Sit down, everything is under control, breathe lightly, do not be afraid.” After a reassuring introduction like that, nothing less than romantic violence can follow, a savagely boiling sea with flashes of lightning through the black welkin or an extremely low camera movement just above the ground, so that a venomous long-horned beetle can emerge in close up from behind every blade of grass. It’s not just traditional ominous clichés that are used, but also theatrical texts and acted situations appear and fade again against a black screen. Shots manipulated by slow motion and purposely out of focus, or flickering light on barely identifiable rough surfaces are part of a disturbing repertoire. A child’s face is constantly being in ‘play’ and ‘rewind’, a baby can’t get a bite at the fruit skewered onto a fork and repeatedly held in front of it. With a static image of apples under water, the question is put: “Do you want to see God?” “I’m closer each time”, is sighed later. ‘Les loups’ seems to be a magnificent report of a coma where vague stimuli from the present penetrate along with misformed shreds from a remembered past.
–
Erik Daams
|
Thanks to Ermeline le Mézo, Production, Autour de la Terre
|
|
1 9 9 6 
