«Profile: not normal, but commonplace

Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) - Thierry Fivaz

Presented this Tuesday, July 10 at NIFFF in the «Films of the third kind» category, Profile by Timur Bekmambetov offers a unique yet ordinary cinematic experience.

When it comes to presenting his film, Timur Bekmambetov doesn't beat about the bush. For the director, it's all about a true cinematic experience, something never seen before! And it's hard to argue with the director, since no feature film has ever taken such a form. In fact, it's the form, more than the scenario, that sets us apart Profile and puts it in a category of its own, detached from the others. However, if Bekmambetov's tour de force is anything to go by Will other directors follow in his footsteps? Nothing is less certain.

Everyday life before our eyes

The form that Bekmambetov's film takes is as follows: imagine the office (or desktop) of your Mac - you know, the space where piles of files and documents line up and wait to be put away. Well, it's in this space that the whole film takes place.This one, in fact, consists of a succession of video screen captures (ndlr: what Bekmambetov calls Screen Life). In short, it is, as some software programs allow, a series of video recordings of what is happening on a computer screen. - many examples, including tutorials, are produced in the same way and can be viewed on YouTube.

The narrative is more classic, linear. Each sequence of the film corresponds to a day or an eventénement. The film opens on day 1 and, at irregular intervals, moves on to day 5, then day 8., etc., as if we were flying over a diary that didn't belong to us. The film's rhythm, for its part, as Skype, Facetime and other text messages appear on the screen. via pop-up windows or other audible and/or visual notifications. The voices we hear are those coming from applications that require the microphone to be activated (such as Skype or Facetime). - including that of the computer owner - which are those we only see via applications requiring camera activation. Added to this are the videos we receive and open, which sometimes give us the impression of watching an «ordinary» film.

While this is the first time a feature-length film has actually taken on such a form, for many of us it's a particularly familiar sight; since it's an identical spectacle we observe every day as we sit at our desks. So, once we've got over the astonishment of seeing such a familiar sight brought to such a large screen, or about 10 minutes, the experience is mostly ordinary, even banal, and even becomes annoying, but the annoyance comes mainly from the script.

Beauty and the beast

Profile is inspired by the book In the skin of a jihadist by French journalist Anna Erelle. Like the French journalist, the film tells the story of Amy Whittaker (Valene Kane), an English journalist who tries (and succeeds) via Facebook to get in touch with a young Islamic State recruiter (Shazad Latif). While the initial aim was to gather as much information as possible about the terrorist organization, particularly in terms of how recruiters operate, the situation quickly degenerated. After numerous exchanges via Skype and other text messages (hence the film's form), the young woman falls in love with, or at least feels a deep affection for, the young man. jihadist. It's like a dream!

Mais au-delà d’un sénario qui dépeint un portrait d’ailleurs peu flatteur de la gente féminine - the film shows a journalist who is profoundly stupid, emotionally weak and naive.s recoveries; qhat are the intentions of such a film? Is it to show that «the bad guys jihadists» ne sont pas uniquement des monstres sanguinaires assoiffés de sang et peuvent également être sympathiques, voire charmants? Ou s’agit-il de montrer que même des individus un tant soit peu éduqués peuvent tomber dans leurs filets? Les deux propositions ne s’excluent pas, mais qui d’ailleurs en doutait vraiment? C’est une évidence sans nom d’admettre, quoi qu’en dise Sergio Leone, que le monde ne se divise pas en deux catégories, avec d’un côté les bons et, de l’autre, les méchants. Est-ce dès lors pertinent d’en faire un film?

However, where Profile can be interesting, it's because of its documentary aspect, which resembles a testimonial film. However, we can only regret the fact that we seem to be, like its director, put more emphasis on the form of the Profile than its content. A novel but banal form, which nonetheless seems more interesting to exploit than unnecessarily harsh, unsettling and boring content once the first half is over.-hour. A content that, if not a genuine fiction, pourrait se muer en un fantastique moyen de prévention et de sensibilisation. Quant à l’expérience cinématographique annoncée, nous repasserons. Dommendation.

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Photo credit: © NIFFF