The Eyes Of My Mother. (15.)
Directed by Nicolas Pesce.
Starring Diana Agostini, Olivia Bond, Will Brill, Joey Curtis-Green, Flora Diaz and Kika Magalhaes. Black and white. 76 mins
The Eyes Of My Mother is a horror film that appears to be taking place inside the painting American Gothic. This time though the bald farmer with a pitchfork lives in his remote country farm house with an, occasionally subtitled, Portuguese wife and their daughter. And, most of the time, there's something very odd in that barn. And it's all in black and white.
The Portuguese mother used to be a surgeon, and she teaches her daughter about anatomy and the workings of a human eye. As events unfold we find out how this strange and lonely upbringing has left her with a warped attitude to mortality and morality.
Pesce's debut suggests he has real talent. The black and white images are really striking and the visual storytelling and shot selection is immaculate. The script is minimal and elliptic: the dialogue is kept to a minimum, but the script knows just how much information to give the audience, and when.
The story it has to tell is a series of transgressions and taboo breaking incidents. If I were to write down what happened in this film you'd probably wonder how it was I could sit through such depravity without being sick. But in actual fact I got through it with barely wince. Pesce tip toes skillfully around the torments and that is a blessing. Except, if we are going to breeze through such a twisted tale (look I'm not going spell out what happens, but just make up a list of words ending “ia” and “iac” and you'll probably work it out) then what is the point of it?
Directed by Nicolas Pesce.
Starring Diana Agostini, Olivia Bond, Will Brill, Joey Curtis-Green, Flora Diaz and Kika Magalhaes. Black and white. 76 mins
The Eyes Of My Mother is a horror film that appears to be taking place inside the painting American Gothic. This time though the bald farmer with a pitchfork lives in his remote country farm house with an, occasionally subtitled, Portuguese wife and their daughter. And, most of the time, there's something very odd in that barn. And it's all in black and white.
The Portuguese mother used to be a surgeon, and she teaches her daughter about anatomy and the workings of a human eye. As events unfold we find out how this strange and lonely upbringing has left her with a warped attitude to mortality and morality.
Pesce's debut suggests he has real talent. The black and white images are really striking and the visual storytelling and shot selection is immaculate. The script is minimal and elliptic: the dialogue is kept to a minimum, but the script knows just how much information to give the audience, and when.
The story it has to tell is a series of transgressions and taboo breaking incidents. If I were to write down what happened in this film you'd probably wonder how it was I could sit through such depravity without being sick. But in actual fact I got through it with barely wince. Pesce tip toes skillfully around the torments and that is a blessing. Except, if we are going to breeze through such a twisted tale (look I'm not going spell out what happens, but just make up a list of words ending “ia” and “iac” and you'll probably work it out) then what is the point of it?
