CLOUD OF SKIN (2015, Maximilian Le Cain, Ireland, A+30)

CLOUD OF SKIN (2015, Maximilian Le Cain, Ireland, A+30)

1.Like many great experimental films I have seen, this film is beyond my ability to describe it. I don’t understand anything at all in this film. It is described as “a fever dream”, and indeed it is as it’s described.

2.To compare it with the Irish experimental films of Rouzbeh Rashidi and Dean Kavanagh, I think this film is more concentrated than the films of Dean Kavanagh (I mean HISTORY OF WATER and A HARBOUR TOWN). The two feature films of Kavanagh that I saw seem to deal with many things, while CLOUD OF SKIN seem to deal with only one relationship of a man and a woman (if I understand it correctly). So I feel CLOUD OF SKIN is more concentrated.

To compare CLOUD OF SKIN with the films of Rouzbeh Rashidi, I think CLOUD OF SKIN is not as rigidly structured as the films of Rashidi. I think many films of Rashidi that I saw seem to be based on “a concept”, while CLOUD OF SKIN seem to be based on “feelings”. Of course, there might be many concepts behind many images and sequences in CLOUD OF SKIN, but these concepts are not obvious to me. I cannot tell why different parts of the film are presented in different ratios. I cannot tell why different parts of the film are presented in different color schemes: saturated colors, pale colors, black and white, etc. There might be concepts behind it, but I feel as if the decision to present any part of the film in any ratio or any color scheme is based on feelings rather than concepts.

3. Nearly every shot in this film is extremely beautiful. One of the shots that I like very much is the shot which shows the man falling downstairs. Another favorite scene of mine is the scene which shows a place that looks like an empty hotel hall, and then we see a man walking into the frame from the left side, but after he walks for 2-3 steps, he disappears, and then we see the empty hotel hall again for many seconds, and the same man walks into the frame for a few seconds, before he disappears again. I think this scene is very effective and haunting.