Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) - Jonas Follonier
Experimental through and through, Luz will have confused many. This graduation film, directed by Tilman Singer, was shown at the Berlin International Film Festival before its Swiss premiere at the NIFFF. It features a protagonist with the same name as the film, who suffers from a form of dementia. Most of the film takes place in an interrogation room, where doctors hypnotize her to extract information about her troubled past.
If the subject is out of the ordinary, so is the form. Luz is shot in 16mm format, a testament to the film's low budget, blending with dark, sickly colors and an equally dodgy new wave soundtrack. Viewers looking for a story to tell are bound to be disappointed by this German production. Nevertheless, the impression of unease, necessarily intended by the director, is well conveyed by this mysterious work lasting just over an hour.
Once again, audiences in Neuchâtel will have left the cinema with more questions on their minds than content, and more embarrassment in their hearts than serenity. One thing is certain: there's something for everyone, as they say; and this kind of image, playing with reality and cinematic conventions, certainly augurs a promising future for the just-thirty-year-old Tilman Singer. But perhaps, dear readers, you have more to say about this film than I do. And so.., Luz hypnotized you?
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Write to the author : jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com
Photo credit: © NIFFF
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