BERLINALE 2020 - The Notes of Anna Azzori / A Mirror that Travels through Time (Gli appunti di Anna Azzori / Uno specchio che viaggia nel tempo)
70th BERLINALE FILM FESTIVALDirector Constanze Ruhm's video essay Gli appunti di Anna Azzori / Uno specchio che viaggia nel tempo (The Notes of Anna Azzori / A Mirror that Travels through Time) is, more or less, an unwatchable albeit profoundly personal tale that discusses an array of societal issues — including gender repression and feminism.
The weight and themes of Ruhm's video essay are undeniably powerful. There is a deeply intimate and loud voice sitting behind the camera in Ruhm, who makes it her mission to highlight injustice and, for the most part, succeeds. However, it is the structure and context of how the feature is brought to life that is the major problem.
The structure utilised is a cluster of a delivery. Convicted and showcased in an assemblage of what feels like random and indescribable images and existential fine-art-esque sequences to convey a narrative through a chaotic plot, it is only the themes that are remotely identifiable. That being said, much of the impact is lost through the commotion of constant underwhelming metaphors and loose archive footage of the video essay’s subject Anna Azzori. However, without a further read, it is almost impossible to distinguish if this is the case or not.
Gli appunti di Anna Azzori / Uno specchio che viaggia nel tempo (The Notes of Anna Azzori / A Mirror that Travels through Time) will work for those who thrive in existential theatre but is woefully inaccessible for a vast majority of viewers, who would otherwise undoubtedly be moved and engaged with a film that holds those accountable of social and gender oppression.
