a scene from when the phone rang.
There is not a single frame of violence in the film by Serbian filmmaker Iva Radivojević. when the phone rangHowever it is set in the context of war and the destruction of a country. Yet, it makes one feel the intense pain of dislocation through the memories of an 11-year-old girl, which is believed to be the filmmaker’s younger self.
The film, screened in the Female Gaze section on the opening day of the 29th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), begins with a phone call, which also involves the young Lana. Although it is a very personal call informing the family of his grandfather’s death, as he grows into adulthood he identifies that entire period of turmoil and migration with the phone call. This all occurred around the time of the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1992, which caused thousands of families to flee their homes.
The phone call and a wall clock showing 10.36 am, the time of the phone call, appear repetitively as indicators of each fragmented memory she recalls. Her memories are not of important geopolitical affairs happening around her, but of regular, warm memories of her years growing up, memories of the silly games she would play with a friend while chasing random strangers, The grainy VHS tapes and Eric Satie piano tunes she plays via phone for her friend are captured in that grainy, nostalgic color tone of the early 1990s. It almost seems like taking hearty stock of all the simple pleasures that many like him missed on a good day.
The country that is being wiped out, and where the people are fleeing, is never mentioned explicitly, but ample hints are given. In a way, the choice not to mention fits into a universal story that people at war easily connect with. -Currently broken parts of the world. Working on an extremely low budget, filmmaker and screenwriter Radivojević also edited and composed the dreamy soundscape for the film.
gender identity erasure
If the extinction of a country is the basis for Radivojević’s film, Jean-Claude Monod’s film girl for a day It is based on the real-life story of a man’s gender identity erasure in 18th century France. Anne’s life changes when she confesses to a priest about feeling attracted to another woman. The priest instructs her to live the rest of her life as a man, an order which she is obliged to follow in the close-knit community of that time. Anne Jean becomes Baptiste and over time, she is married to a woman who understands that her husband is not built like other men and is okay with that.
a scene from Girl for a day.
But this happy marriage is disrupted when the truth about gender identity becomes public and reaches the court, which blames her for violating the sanctity of marriage. The film is a fictional reconstruction based on an appeal filed by Anne/Jean’s lawyer. It is interesting to see how gender was negotiated in the public sphere centuries ago. What is even more poignant is the plight of people like Anne, forced to live in a time when there was hardly any awareness on gender-related matters.
published – December 13, 2024 06:27 PM IST
