VENICE 2021: Reflection ‘Відблиск’
VENICEDirector Valentyn Vasyanovych's 'Відблиск' (Reflection) is a film of two halves. One a frightening and ferociously harrowing torture of the lead character, and the second an internal demonstration and performance on coping with the very harrowing events in the former part of the feature.
The idea put forward is consistently interesting and, on paper, undeniably compelling. Nevertheless, the issue that arises once the second narrative commences is that both sides to the story do not gel with much merit and symmetry. Undoubtedly the former half of the feature is at its most immersive and compelling – galvanising the audience in a literal sense of deprivation and harrowing sequences of terror. Uncomfortable does not quite cut it here, as the showcases are terrifying to watch play out, yet their inclusion connects the viewer to the piece overall, understanding and ultimately witnessing this terror in an almost first-hand approach. It all makes for horrifying but needed contextual viewing for the latter part of the film.
However, that latter half – strangely echoing the likes of Roy Anderson's filmography – feels detached. Now granted, said footage and narrative are consciously grafted to give such a thematic impression, showcasing the physiological and internal to external depression and loss of being. However, at times, the specific choice of aesthetic and camera is produced in a number of long unbroken takes in each sequence. Aesthetically and cinematically, such shots from the writer-director Valentyn Vasyanovych dazzle with their respective inclusion. Yet they isolate and create a visual dissonance with the material at hand, ultimately creating difficulty in the emotional and connective tissue between subject and audience, going as far as approaching such too deep with the internal social ecosystem without actually presenting much.
While Valentyn Vasyanovych's 'Відблиск' (Reflection) dazzles visually and, for some, will undoubtedly hold something quite poignant and stunning in performance, the feature goes a stretch too far in pushing its viewer away to contextualise the thematics of its lead character. So much so, that it loses both steam and interest from its viewer rapidly.
