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Gorgeous.
A lovely short, rich in comedy, ellipsis and quiet emotion. The story, a two-hander, is slight. A famous Russian pianist, chaperoned by his agent (reminiscent of old-style Soviet 'minders') has arranged a session with a famous photographer. Having dispensed with the agent, the initially formal, yet amused, Russian, is encouraged to loosen up, undress, and adopt bizarre poses by the photographer. The ease with which he does this belies his assumed reserve, and points to an increasing, unresolved, sexual chemistry between the two. The disapproving agent returns, and shepherds his charge out, the latter inviting the photographer to his concert. Bookending the film are a group of garrulous men japing on the ground floor - it is revealed at the end that these are the removal men who put the piano in the photographer's loft as a prop.
The short is filmed with an admirable easy touch, and soundtracked by a gorgeous, hummable, light-jazzy score. The leads are a delight. The Russian has an attractive unSlavic playfulness, years of Academy regimentation leaving him surprisingly open to new experiences. The photographer, an older woman, is very funny, but never ridiculous, in her obvious lust. The blink-and-you'll-miss-them biographical snippets add immeasurably to our understanding - it doesn't make them any more knowable, but more human.
The film deals with weighty themes - the relationship between artist and subject; the politics of the gendered gaze; the tensions when traditional roles (male artist, female subject) are reversed; art as an escape from an unhappy, or emotionally unfulfilling life etc. There are symbols of entrapment or obstacles to communication or flight from paralysis (e.g. bars, birds flapping on the skylight). The metaphor of the untuned piano, with all its emotional and artistic resonances, is delightfully upturned at the end.
It is this sense of comedy - while never shirking from underlying sadness - that is most memorable in the film. There are some priceless visual absurdities: my favourite is seeing this beautiful, severe, naked Russian pianist, leapingly swatting away the birds; or when he plays the piano backwards. The effect of these scenes depends on a quiet upending of expectations. I await Liaane's first feature with some impatience.
The short is filmed with an admirable easy touch, and soundtracked by a gorgeous, hummable, light-jazzy score. The leads are a delight. The Russian has an attractive unSlavic playfulness, years of Academy regimentation leaving him surprisingly open to new experiences. The photographer, an older woman, is very funny, but never ridiculous, in her obvious lust. The blink-and-you'll-miss-them biographical snippets add immeasurably to our understanding - it doesn't make them any more knowable, but more human.
The film deals with weighty themes - the relationship between artist and subject; the politics of the gendered gaze; the tensions when traditional roles (male artist, female subject) are reversed; art as an escape from an unhappy, or emotionally unfulfilling life etc. There are symbols of entrapment or obstacles to communication or flight from paralysis (e.g. bars, birds flapping on the skylight). The metaphor of the untuned piano, with all its emotional and artistic resonances, is delightfully upturned at the end.
It is this sense of comedy - while never shirking from underlying sadness - that is most memorable in the film. There are some priceless visual absurdities: my favourite is seeing this beautiful, severe, naked Russian pianist, leapingly swatting away the birds; or when he plays the piano backwards. The effect of these scenes depends on a quiet upending of expectations. I await Liaane's first feature with some impatience.
helpful•10
- alice liddell
- Nov 8, 1999
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