Sz̩l (1996) Wind Р6 mins short film; Hungary

Directed by Marcell Iványi

Whilst the cinematic eye does not shy away from what lies in its frame, this is however not an eye without compassion or grace, in fact, the opposite of that is true.

In this 6 mins short film, the three woman in the opening shoot shows them there standing resolutely against the gale which is ripping at their skirts, throwing off their hair, incessant on closing their eyes; yet they stand as though patiently waiting for the tempest due their way, without judgement, without a show of emotion. The camera moves in, close to the last of the standing woman, who is dressed all in black. We are then treated to a pan to the right of her, moving into what Deleuze would call any-space-whatever, what was beyond the frame…past the corner of the white building we see a long expanse of agricultural land, the sky low on the horizon, flocks of birds pattern it’s enormous canvas. There are a few outhouses, fields, fencing; a dog towards the foreground looks bored and is turn watching a travelling threesome dragging their load, who cuts diagonally across the screen to provide some movement beyond that of the moving lens. A cock crows. This is a landscape like that of Bela Tarr’s, the land gestures to us; beckons us to study it’s contours, to what it has to offer, which is so different to what we know.

As we moved past the ‘mid-point’ signalled by the sun’s rays casting the long shadows of a barren tree, we see men who are stood facing as though they are bookends to the three women. They are facing in the direction of a scene soon to be revealed to us: of multiple hanged men; the last of whom was having a sack put over his head. The roving eye comes full circle back to the three women, their presence, now, imbued with meaning, before they turn their backs to camera and walk away from view.

This film won the Palme d’Or that year for Best Short Film. The idea for this film originated from a task given at a course taught by Yvette Biro in 1995 at the Hungarian Academy of Drama and Film; where students were given a black and white photo by the famous Jewish Hungarian architectural photographer Lucien Hervé (who collaborated extensively with Le Corbusier), this 1952 photograph taken of three women was used as inspiration for students to write a short film.

I’ve included Hervé’s photo at the top.

You can see this on #mubi#

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