This film is accompanied with an audio clip of an argument between presumably this man and a woman. The argument includes no specifics and so the problems seem familiar, lack of respect, no appreciation and 'you have not been honest.' The couple sound tired and unapologetic, it is hard to imagine they ever cared about one another because they are both so careless about each others feelings, the man in particular is very cruel. Yet the film creates a stark contrast. The film shows the man weeding, cleaning a windscreen, smoking, at dinner. But the camera gazes at him, it follows and explores his hands, arms and neck almost as if the camera is caressing him with its gaze. The man is unaware of the camera and remains nonchalant and cold. It is this that makes the film so sad, the camera is like the woman remembering all the little parts of of him and all his little idiosyncrasies that she loves. And just like his cruel words, he is equally cruel by not returning her gaze.
At the end he keeps repeating 'you have not been honest,' again and again, she says 'you sound like a broken record' and the film jolts and flickers between scenes like a broken record. 'You have not been honest' repeated sounds like a beating, each hit pulling up more images and remembrances for her. The film is harrowing and makes you think about how relationships can dissolve into this. The interesting thing about this film is that you don't know whether this is an actual argument recorded or is just acted, is the man her actual exlover, were these scenes shot before or after the argument? Film opens up so many questions as to what is real and I think this is why it is so powerful, many possibilities and questions consume your mind more than one single answer.
POLLY STAPLE:
I really like this appraisal 'a stylised portrait of internal psychological collapse' as the scenes do have a vulnerability to them as they seem lovingly shot but are accompanied by the same man cruelly rejecting her. The disjointed nature and the flippant changes between the scenes add to this sense of a breakdown, she is not thinking in a linear fashion but jumping backwards and forwards, clinging onto any good memories, which are instantly destroyed by his damning words, 'you have not been honest.'
I could not find a youtube version so here is the link:
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