Amer

Starring: Cassandra Forêt, Charlotte Eugène Guibeaud, Marie Bos, Bianca Maria D'Amato, Jean-Michel Vovk

Synopsis:

Amer focuses on three moments in the life of Ana. As a young girl (Foret), explores the rooms, corridors and hallways of her home on the eve of her Grandfather’s burial, and witnesses her mother’s anger at the housemaid who has adorned the corpse with superstitious esoterica. Events take a nightmarish turn for Ana when she decides to take her grandfather’s pocket watch.

In the second segment, Ana (Guibeaud) is now a girl “coming of age”, her young body on the cusp of blossoming into womanhood. A playful ballgame leads her into confrontation of dark sensuality.

In the final segment, Ana (Bos) returns to her childhood home, now in an advanced state of decay. As she starts to renovate the property, she is beset by strange disturbances – is someone there with her?

Like a lot of films we cover at Flash-Bang, Amer has been on the film festival circuit for some time, garnering praise wherever it has been shown. However, outside a few comments about it’s Giallo influences and aforementioned praise, I knew absolutely nothing about the actual story going into the film. To say that it defied my expectations would be an understatement.

Amer is a film that wears it’s influences quite proudly on it’s sleeve. Few genre fans will miss the obvious nod to Argento in the first segment, with it’s settings vividly lit in primary colours. The mysterious housemaid also seems to be a homage to the Sisters trilogy, with her bizarre earthy spells and veiled appearance. Cronenberg, De Palma and Lynch's influences also pervade the film.

The only dialogue spoken in this segment is between Ana’s mother and father. However Ana remains the focus throughout, so when she is outside the window, or has her ears covered, we the audience also fail to catch what was said. Interestingly, when Ana’s mother confronts the maid (a scene we partially hear), she seems both angry and frightened at the same time.

It takes a while to understand what is actually going on, and it’s only when Ana sneaks into her grandfather’s room that it starts to become clear. Her grandfather’s corpse is lying in repose on the bed, awaiting the funeral the next day. Ana is looking for something but can’t find it, until she uncovers a mirror and catches a glimpse of the pocket watch entwined between her grandfather’s fingers

Amer is a film of very few words, in fact I believe there to be only about ten lines of dialogue. Everything you need to know can be derived from the images and sounds.

This is certainly true of the next two segments. In the middle section, Ana, now played by Charlotte Eugène Guibeaud, is a girl of about 13-14 years old. She is going through puberty, on the cusp of becoming a young woman. Her mother meanwhile is still a very beautiful woman, but the signs of age are starting to creep in. When she visits the village hair salon, the stylist automatically assumes she wants to colour her hair to cover the strands of grey that are creeping into her temples.

The story-telling skill in this section is amazing. Through vivid close-ups, pertinent sound fx and wonderful acting, the audience is able to grasp the said relationship between mother and daughter, and understand the tumultuous, rebellious feelings of puberty and sexual discovery. The story builds into some twisted, dark sexually charged fairytale, in which red riding hood is accosted by a whole gang of wolves ready to devour her.

It’s a pity that the final section is so readily signposted that the finale – at least the shape of it - is easy to guess. The strong visual style is still in place, but this time they are informed in our mind by what we already know as the previous segments seem to have affected Ana deeply. It’s interesting to note that Ana, now played by actress Marie Bos, bares a striking resemblance to her mother. Excellent casting.

Verdict:

Amer is visually on another level. I haven’t even mentioned the film’s motif of voyeurism, nor the excellent soundtrack made up of tracks from previous giallo’s. my only complaint is the ending is a little too easy to pick up on.

8 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

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