«Styx»: a human parable

Cinema Wednesdays - Alexandre Wälti

The name of a gateway to the underworld in Greek mythology is the title of Austrian director Wolfgang Fischer's third feature film. The official poster sums it up well: the viewer plunges into the crashing waters and doesn't return unscathed. Rike, a German emergency doctor, embarks on a solo voyage in her sailboat to the wild island of Ascension, off the coast of Mauritania. Styx suffers from some unavoidable length, but the director uses silence as a genuine dramatic tool.

Styx is also an Oceanid, an aquatic but not marine nymph, the eldest daughter of Ocean and Thetys in Greek mythology. Perhaps Rike (Susanne Wolff, with her breathtaking intensity), in fact. The director leaves it open to doubt. The parable doesn't stop there, as the adventuress can be associated with the mythological figure of Charon. Yes, he's the one who pushes back with his oars the souls who are not allowed to cross the river. At all the crossing points, he only lets those who can pay him an obolus cross, like Aeneas, searching for his father Anchises. Rike, for her part, does the opposite of the old man with Kingsley (Gedion Oduor Wekesa, disturbing).

Sailing in all its solitary splendor

Let's not go any further into the parabolic nature of the film and return to the cinematographic work. Otherwise, you'll probably have given up reading. And that's not what we want. Even if the parable is intelligent and makes real sense. Styx is first and foremost an insight into the daily life of a sailor whose only trusted companion is her sailboat throughout the Atlantic Ocean crossing from Gibraltar.

Silence reigns supreme in the film's first half-hour, with the contrasts between the small boat and the huge tankers also playing their cinematic role. Only the sound of the sea feeds the image. A migrating starling suddenly interferes with the sailor's rigorous daily routine, the boom, the helm, the stern, the pulleys, the shrouds, the mast and all the components of a sailboat. The first dialogue comes over the radio in the form of a warning about a violent storm coming up soon. It comes from a huge merchant ship. The only human contact is through a microphone.

A hopeful drama

Wolfgang Fischer has taken a risk in starting his film in this way, as boredom threatens several times in the first half. Even so, Susanne Wolff's extremely physical performance, the camera's incessant changes of perspective, the dynamic variations in light and the actress's movements compensate for the length inherent in the director's choices.

If, however, we consider the dramatic unfolding of the film, then the initial silence - or true rest before the storm - gives greater force to the cries of migrants from a coughing, damaged trawler. Rike comes across it in the middle of the ocean after the storm, without really believing it. Once again, the accuracy of the acting is astounding. The lack of interaction that precedes Kingsley's unexpected rescue, which the coastguard advises against, takes on a whole new meaning. She hoists him aboard the sailboat with difficulty, unconscious and worn out as he is, and later covers him with a green blanket, the color of hope. Letting the other human beings on the trawler die is impossible for Rike. What can she do? Go to the movies and find out. And wham!

Human beings at the heart of the emergency

What is a Styx? A film that first raises the question of helping our fellow man. A film which then questions the behavior of administrations in the face of the urgent need to save lives in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. A film that finally gives a humanist option among others to this sad reality, all too commonplace. A political film? Precisely not. The subject is never thematized. Never does it go beyond the two opposing destinies that meet, two worlds that crash against each other like the waves of an endless, hellish ocean. A poignant film.

If you're interested in these issues, Geneva's Cinélux cinema is organizing a screening-debate this evening at 6:45 p.m. in the presence of photographer-director Lorenzo Valmontone and Julie Melichar, responsible for citizen mobilization and communications for SOS Méditérannée Switzerland. For more information on this event click here.

Write to the author: alexandre.waelti@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Trigon-film